This collection of powerpoint slides and the accompanying audio
clips are intended as a companion to the more formal written report
on the study undertaken at Bath Spa University looking at the
mathematics anxiety of primary teacher trainees on a one year
PGCE course.
They are intended to give an introduction to the findings and to be a
starting point for discussion and further thoughts. To this end, we
would welcome comments, feedback and suggestions. Our contact
details are given on the final slide.
We would like to express our gratitude to the hundreds of dedicated
and hardworking trainee teachers that we have worked with over
the past few years and who gave up their time to take part in the
project. We would also like to thank ESCalate whose funding
enabled the project to continue.
We hope that you find the contents interesting.
Marcus and Jill.
Breaking the anxiety spiral: the
impact of innovations in teacher
trainees' subject knowledge
instruction.
Marcus Witt and Jill Mansergh
School of Education
Bath Spa University
Breaking the Spiral
Anxious
Children
Anxious
Teachers
Anxious
Trainees
There is strong
evidence that
primary school
teachers who are
anxious about
mathematics can
inadvertently
transmit this anxiety
to their pupils.
Many children who
are anxious about
mathematics choose
to become primary
school teachers,
despite the need to
teach some maths.
Without intervention,
it is likely that they
will become anxious
teachers.
Introduction
There are many anxious trainee teachers
(e.g. Hogden and Askew, 2007).
Poor planning and teaching (Goulding et al.,
2002).
Attitudes towards mathematics can and do
change during the course of the PGCE year
(Brown et al., 1999).
What we did
A more detailed discussion of the methodology is available
in the written report.
We collected quantitative data about our trainees’ levels of
anxiety about mathematics and their attitudes towards the
subject at three points during their PGCE year. This
allowed us to track their changing attitudes.
We also conducted small group interviews with a number
of trainees. The audio clips that accompany this
presentation are taken from those interviews and seek to
illustrate the findings.
Clearly we have had to be selective here. We have tried to
choose clips that best illustrate the big ideas that were
discussed and expressed.
Exploration of the themes and issues raised in
the interviews with trainees.
• Trainees’ initial anxieties about mathematics
• Closer understanding of a link between subject
knowledge and pedagogy
• Links between trainees’ own pedagogy and
their own experience of learning mathematics.
• Changing/emerging views about the nature of
mathematics.
Initial Views and Feelings about Mathematics
Some of the anxiety expressed by our trainees as
they joined the course related to teaching
mathematics rather than their own understanding
of the subject. They were aware that they had
been taught how to get an answer, but were
equally aware that they needed a deeper
understanding in order to be able to teach
effectively.
Others were more aware of the very clear link
between teaching and their own level of subject
knowledge.
Initial Views and Feelings about Mathematics
Interestingly, the majority of the trainees who were
anxious about mathematics having had bad
experiences as learners, expressed a very strong
determination not to repeat the mistakes that had
been made with them.
The majority were clear about the negative points
in their own experiences as learners.
A few found it difficult to envisage teaching
mathematics in a way that wasn’t dry and
repetitive.
Changes in Attitude During the PGCE Course
Many trainees’ views about the nature of
mathematics seemed to change during the
course.
Many had moved away from the idea that
mathematics is all about simply getting the right
answer. They were aware that part of the primary
teacher’s role is to try and engender positive
attitudes towards mathematics in the children.
Changes in Attitude During the PGCE Course
The trainees identified a number of university-based
factors that had led to changes in attitudes about
mathematics.
Among these were:
• The attitude of tutors
• A growing awareness of the link between subject
knowledge and pedagogy
• Having fun while doing mathematics and therefore no
longer seeing maths as something to be feared.
• Subject knowledge provision.
Subject Knowledge Provision
As part of our subject knowledge provision, we decided
that our main aim was not to try and ‘teach’ our trainees a
lot of mathematics. Rather, we wanted them all,
irrespective of their confidence with the subject, to spend
some time actually doing some mathematics and
(hopefully) being successful with it. We wanted to model
a way of teaching mathematics that was possibly not
what they had done in school themselves, so that they
could experience it.
In order to do this, we spent the first three subject
knowledge sessions engaged primarily in mathematical
investigations that the trainees could tackle at a level that
was comfortable for them.
Subject Knowledge Provision
The three sessions looked at:
Mathematical reasoning and communication
Shape and Space
Calculations
For example, the first session contained an investigation
of number chains.
If the number in the chain is even – divide by 2
If the number in the chain is odd – multiply by 3 and add 1
Comments about the investigative subject
knowledge sessions.
• Re-engagement with mathematics (Rachel)
• Establishing an ethos (Matt/Kat)
• The importance of collaboration (Eirian/Mina)
• Reducing anxiety
• Uncovering latent understanding (Caroline)
• Taking risks with mathematics; establishing a
low-anxiety environment. (Gwen)
Comments about the investigative subject
knowledge sessions.
A great many trainees, particularly those who
had expressed some anxiety at the beginning
of the course, or who had had negative
experiences of learning mathematics in school,
saw the investigative sessions as a way
drawing a line under their bad experiences and
of re-engaging with the subject.
There was a sense in which those trainees
who were engaging with mathematics in a new
way were doing so along with the children they
were teaching. Many saw the powerful
pedagogical advantages of this.
Comments about the investigative subject
knowledge sessions.
The initial investigative sessions also helped to
establish a positive and non-threatening
environment in which to learn.
Several of the trainees who were less confident
with mathematics to begin with found it gratifying
that they were able to engage with this
investigative way of doing mathematics.
Some of the trainees who had been more
‘successful’ with mathematics in a more traditional
way, were more reticent about the investigative
mathematics, possibly as they had more to ‘lose’.
Comments about the investigative subject
knowledge sessions.
For many of our more anxious trainees, the feeling
that they were on their own exacerbated their
anxiety. Being open about their feelings about
mathematics and discovering that they were not
alone in feeling that way was helpful.
The investigative sessions encouraged a
collaborative approach to mathematics; something
that we hoped the trainees would take with them
into the classroom.
The collaborative nature of the investigations
meant that the more anxious trainees felt a degree
of reassurance.
Comments about the investigative subject
knowledge sessions.
One of the main objectives of the subject
knowledge provision was to promote a more
confident approach to mathematics and to reduce
anxiety. These first investigations were
intentionally designed with an easy entry, so that
all the trainees were able to make a start. It was
hoped that they would be able to feel a degree of
success.
Comments about the investigative subject
knowledge sessions.
Taking risks with maths
Some of our trainees who were originally
anxious about mathematics and were afraid of
‘getting things wrong’ seemed more willing, by
the end of the course, to have a go and to take
risks with their own mathematics. This was
particularly gratifying, as we felt that it was
getting to the heart of our messages about
mathematics and was what we hoped our
trainees would take with them into their own
classrooms.
The Way Ahead
We are very aware that what we do for our trainees is by
no means perfect. Many come to the course with such low
expectations of mathematics that they would be positive
almost whatever we do.
We are left with a number of difficult decisions:
• Should we seek to differentiate the investigative
sessions, or conduct them in groups based on the
trainees’ levels of confidence?
• What should we do about those trainees whose
confidence does not really improve during the year
• Are we making adequate provision for the more
confident trainees.
The Way Ahead
We hope that you have found the thoughts and ideas
generated by our study interesting.
If you are involved in initial teacher education we would be
very interested to hear about how you deal with trainees
who are anxious about mathematics.
We are looking at ways of extending the research and
would be interested in hearing from anyone who might like
to get involved in the project, by conducting some research
in their own institution.
Please contact Marcus at:
m.witt@bathspa.ac.uk or by phone on 01225 875837.