Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development

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dc.contributor.advisorPaxton, Moraghen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMuller, Sara Louiseen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-03-03T14:47:25Z
dc.date.available2016-03-03T14:47:25Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical referencesen_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis thesis explores the beliefs of mathematics teachers working in a rural school in South Africa. This is premised on the argument that understanding the beliefs of teachers is a necessary, even if insufficient, prerequisite to designing effective teacher development programmes. I postulate that take-up rates of new content and teaching methods are low due to unmanaged cognitive conflict with pre-existing beliefs about the nature of teaching. A broad review of the literature on beliefs as a concept is conducted to establish theoretical grounding for the study of beliefs as an abstract object of analysis (Green, 1971; Nespor, 1987; Pajares, 1992). I particularly refer to Ernest's (1989) models of mathematics epistemology, and Adler's (2001) dilemmas of teaching mathematics in multilingual classrooms. Multiple studies of mathematics teachers' beliefs are drawn upon to relate beliefs to classroom practice. Qualitative data on two mathematics teachers working in a rural school in the Eastern Cape was gathered over the period of a month, using ethnographic methods as outlined by Thompson (1992) for gathering evidence of beliefs. Primary data, which consisted of pre-interviews, multiple lesson observations and stimulated-recall post-interviews, was analysed for evidence of teacher beliefs. Secondary data, in the form of a researcher journal and socio-economic information about the school, was also gathered to provide rich context data in which to situate the teachers' work. Particular attention was paid to teacher beliefs about teaching and learning, mathematics and language. Further evidence for beliefs was then obtained through close examination of an observation extract using classroom discourse analysis. The main finding of this thesis was that not only does a school's context provide logistical constraints to curriculum implementation and pedagogical change, but that the worldviews of teachers affect their interpretation of the curriculum (Chapman, 2002). Significantly, a relationship between the mathematics epistemology a teacher holds and their ability to admit language as a critical pedagogical factor is suggested. I conclude that detailed understanding of what teachers believe may provide a productive approach for teacher development programmes that aim to effect change.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationMuller, S. L. (2015). <i>Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17431en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMuller, Sara Louise. <i>"Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17431en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMuller, S. 2015. Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Muller, Sara Louise AB - This thesis explores the beliefs of mathematics teachers working in a rural school in South Africa. This is premised on the argument that understanding the beliefs of teachers is a necessary, even if insufficient, prerequisite to designing effective teacher development programmes. I postulate that take-up rates of new content and teaching methods are low due to unmanaged cognitive conflict with pre-existing beliefs about the nature of teaching. A broad review of the literature on beliefs as a concept is conducted to establish theoretical grounding for the study of beliefs as an abstract object of analysis (Green, 1971; Nespor, 1987; Pajares, 1992). I particularly refer to Ernest's (1989) models of mathematics epistemology, and Adler's (2001) dilemmas of teaching mathematics in multilingual classrooms. Multiple studies of mathematics teachers' beliefs are drawn upon to relate beliefs to classroom practice. Qualitative data on two mathematics teachers working in a rural school in the Eastern Cape was gathered over the period of a month, using ethnographic methods as outlined by Thompson (1992) for gathering evidence of beliefs. Primary data, which consisted of pre-interviews, multiple lesson observations and stimulated-recall post-interviews, was analysed for evidence of teacher beliefs. Secondary data, in the form of a researcher journal and socio-economic information about the school, was also gathered to provide rich context data in which to situate the teachers' work. Particular attention was paid to teacher beliefs about teaching and learning, mathematics and language. Further evidence for beliefs was then obtained through close examination of an observation extract using classroom discourse analysis. The main finding of this thesis was that not only does a school's context provide logistical constraints to curriculum implementation and pedagogical change, but that the worldviews of teachers affect their interpretation of the curriculum (Chapman, 2002). Significantly, a relationship between the mathematics epistemology a teacher holds and their ability to admit language as a critical pedagogical factor is suggested. I conclude that detailed understanding of what teachers believe may provide a productive approach for teacher development programmes that aim to effect change. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development TI - Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17431 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/17431
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMuller SL. Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Education, 2015 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17431en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentSchool of Educationen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherbelief systemsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherteacher developmenten_ZA
dc.subject.otherteacher trainingen_ZA
dc.subject.othermathematicsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherteacher beliefsen_ZA
dc.subject.othersubjectivityen_ZA
dc.titleTeachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional developmenten_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMEden_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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