An investigation of primary teachers' mathematical views and practices : towards identifying staff development needs

Abstract

This qualitative study was conducted at St. Mark School, an independent institution. Its aim was to investigate the mathematical views and practices held by the school's eight upper primary teachers as a basis for future school-focused staff development activities. The data was collected during the 1997-1998 scholastic year by means of three one-to one semi-structured in-depth interviews with each of the teachers. The interviews dealt with teachers' views on mathematics and its teaching, and their instructional practices and content knowledge on a particular topic, that is Fractions. Cross-case analysis revealed that at St. Mark School: • Teachers often hold similar and limited views about the nature of mathematics (mainly seen as an accumulation of facts, rules and procedures) and its instruction (primarily based on the transmission of knowledge model); • While procedural knowledge is emphasised by teachers at the expense of conceptual knowledge, teachers' 'espoused' and 'enacted' models of teaching and learning mathematics are often in conflict; • The school context and the overall poor mathematical preparation of the teachers emerge as important factors that lead same year teachers to expose frequently their classes to the same textbook exercises and instructional approaches. The study concludes by suggesting that St. Mark should embark on staff development activities that promote a constructivist perspective: teachers should be actively involved in in-house mathematical activities in order to facilitate the reconstruction of their mathematical knowledge.