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Mathematics Education Research Journal

, Volume 25, Issue 4, pp 569–587 | Cite as

“If I had to pick any subject, it wouldn’t be maths”: foundations for engagement with mathematics during the middle years

  • Catherine Attard
Original Article
First Online:

Abstract

This article is a report on a longitudinal case study that investigated the problem of lowered engagement with mathematics and students’ perspectives of the factors that influenced their engagement during the middle years of schooling. The article provides a synthesis of the entire study and a summary of its findings. In order to address the research question a group of 20 students from within the same school cohort participated in the study spanning three school years from their final year of primary school, to their second year of secondary school. Data was collected through interviews, focus group discussions, and classroom observations. A major finding of this study was that positive pedagogical relationships between teachers and their students must be developed as a foundation for sustained engagement.

Keywords

Engagement Mathematics Middle years Pedagogical relationships Pedagogy 
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Copyright information

© Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Inc. 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.University of Western Sydney, Bankstown CampusPenrith Sth DCAustralia

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