Western Australian teachers’ perceptions of effective secondary mathematics teaching through the lens of the ‘actions’ of mathematics: The Proficiency Strands.
Year: 2018
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This research examined how 14 Western Australian (WA) secondary mathematics teachers perceived effective mathematics teaching through the actions of teaching mathematics, described as Proficiency Strands. The research examined a variety of insights into what constituted effective teaching. Comparisons were made using an interpretive theoretical perspective of an instrumental case study and data were reviewed using a structured inductive framework with thematic analysis. Key findings of the research found that participants’ beliefs and practices did help determine their perceptions of effective teaching but that understanding, and interpretation of mathematical proficiencies were less influential and inconsistently understood. The study found evidence that mathematical proficiencies are incorrectly regarded in a hierarchical sense. There was no evidence that teaching experience affected participants’ understanding of mathematical proficiencies, but evidence was found that participants’ lesson planning focused on classroom management and lesson content and less on the mathematical goals of the lesson. Participants felt that basic lesson structures employed by mathematics teachers could be improved, but had concerns over the volume of curriculum content, which makes that difficult to achieve.
Author: James C. O’Neill
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2940526016