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Mathematical belief change in prospective primary teachers

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Abstract

The development and influence of beliefs in teacher education has been a topic of increasing interest for researchers in recent years. This study explores the responses of a group of prospective primary teachers to attempts to facilitate belief change as part of their initial teacher education programme in mathematics. The students’ responses seemed to fall into three categories: non-engagement; building a new set of beliefs and; reforming existing beliefs. In this article the participants’ responses are outlined and illustrated with stories from three individuals. This study suggests that belief reform is complex and fraught with ethical dilemmas. Certainly there is a need for further research in this area, particularly given the pervasive influence of beliefs on teaching practice.

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Notes

  1. By their very nature, observations will be subjective and involve some measure of interpretation, but as much as possible every attempt was made to simply record what occurred.

  2. Pseudonyms have been used throughout this article.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr Tracey Smith and Professor Carmel Diezmann for their advice and support in revising this article.

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  1. Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

    Peter Grootenboer

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  1. Peter Grootenboer
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Correspondence to Peter Grootenboer.

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Grootenboer, P. Mathematical belief change in prospective primary teachers. J Math Teacher Educ 11, 479–497 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-008-9084-x

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