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Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development
Includes bibliographical references
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| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
School of Education
2016
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| _version_ | 1867613250199224320 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Muller, Sara Louise |
| author2 | Paxton, Moragh |
| author_browse | Muller, Sara Louise Paxton, Moragh |
| author_facet | Paxton, Moragh Muller, Sara Louise |
| author_sort | Muller, Sara Louise |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Includes bibliographical references |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17431 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:08.525Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateRange | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | School of Education |
| publisherStr | School of Education |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17431 Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development Muller, Sara Louise Paxton, Moragh belief systems teacher development teacher training mathematics teacher beliefs subjectivity Includes bibliographical references 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. 2016-03-03T14:47:25Z 2016-03-03T14:47:25Z 2015 Master Thesis Masters MEd http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17431 eng application/pdf School of Education Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | belief systems teacher development teacher training mathematics teacher beliefs subjectivity Muller, Sara Louise Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development |
| title_full | Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development |
| title_fullStr | Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development |
| title_full_unstemmed | Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development |
| title_short | Teachers' beliefs: understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development |
| title_sort | teachers beliefs understanding the thinking of secondary mathematics teachers as a starting point for improved professional development |
| topic | belief systems teacher development teacher training mathematics teacher beliefs subjectivity |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17431 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mullersaralouise teachersbeliefsunderstandingthethinkingofsecondarymathematicsteachersasastartingpointforimprovedprofessionaldevelopment |