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This paper set out to contribute to mathematics education research by elaborating on a methodology developed during a study, trying to understand, view and follow shifts in prospective teachers' discursive patterns. The methodology aims to illustrate and describe how prospective teachers adapt to the context of teaching through a flexible process. This flexible process is then described in the result as a narrative. It is argued that the methodology can be used in relation to different theoretical directions, such as research about beliefs, knowledge, or identity. Another contribution is that the methodology presented gives insights into bridging the gap between different analytical levels, micro and macro. With a theoretical foundation in 'Cultural Worlds' [Holland, D., Skinner, D., Lachicotte, W., & Cain, C. (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Harvard University Press.] the Social Semiotic approach of Systemic Functional Linguistics, SFL [Halliday, M., & Hasan, R. (1989). Language, context, and text: Aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press] is used as a methodological tool. SFL offers a toolkit that allows the analysis of meaning at the clause level to uncover how and why a speaker produces a particular wording rather than any other in a specific social practice. The paper aims to illustrate and describe how to go beyond findings in the micro-analysis and then present the result as a narrative case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies affirm the importance of students' attitudes for mathematical education. This study uses mathematical autobiographical essays to examine the mathematical experiences and attitudes of undergraduate students enrolled in mathematics classes at a Midwestern University in the United States. The essays of 41 students (20 men, 21 women) out of 170 enrolled in College Algebra, Precalculus, and Calculus were analyzed using the categories of (1) confidence in mathematics ability, (2) value of mathematics, and (3) liking of mathematics. This paper provides context and theoretical depth to student reports of their attitudes in these categories. Statements at the intersections of both confidence and liking, and value and liking provide additional insights. First, students who perceive mathematics as valuable are more likely to like it. Second, the vast majority of students talk about confidence and liking together, and with a positive correlation. Further, these students tend to talk about liking or not liking mathematics because of their perceived ability in mathematics. Our study suggests the importance of proactive teaching strategies to improve students' perceptions of the value, liking of, and their confidence in, mathematics, and also suggests self-efficacy as a potential theoretical basis for this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Out-of-field teaching refers to the practice of assigning teachers to teach subjects that do not match their training or education. This paper reports on a study evaluating the impact of a national professional development programme for out-of-field teachers of post-primary school mathematics in Ireland – the Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching. Evidence of impact was collected from three surveys. Two surveys evaluated changes in the prevalence of out-of-field teaching before and six years after the introduction of the programme. The third survey investigated programme graduates' beliefs about mathematics, mathematics teaching and mathematics learning, and reported changes in teaching practices. Outcomes of the programme included a reduction in out-of-field teaching of mathematics and increased opportunities for graduates to teach higher level mathematics in the senior post-primary years. These teachers also endorsed child-centred beliefs and reported teaching practices consistent with the problem-solving orientation of the new mathematics curriculum. The findings go some way towards testing a theory of teacher change in order to enhance our understanding of how professional development works to upskill out-of-field teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the development of the Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice beliefs (TMfSJ-B) scale and its psychometric properties. Preservice elementary education teachers enrolled in teacher education programmes at seven universities completed multiple surveys designed to understand the evolution of attitudes and beliefs about teaching mathematics. To our knowledge, the TMfSJ-B scale is the only survey specifically designed to measure pre- and in-service teachers' beliefs about teaching mathematics for social justice. Confirmatory factor analyses (n = 655) provided here indicate that the TMfSJ-B scale is a valid and reliable assessment of beliefs about social justice in mathematics teacher education, with three factors: (1) value of mathematics for all students; (2) integration of social justice into mathematics instruction; and (3) mathematics and its relation to inclusiveness. The purpose of this study was to validate measures produced by the TMfSJ-beliefs scale and discuss its potential use in teacher education programmes and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the learning experiences, beliefs and motivations of students in classes where the mathematics teachers have received support for using inquiry-based learning activities. Data were collected from 248 students in the age-range 11–16 using electronic questionnaires. Our results show that key features of inquiry-based mathematics were only moderately reflected in these students' beliefs about the subject, their dispositions towards mathematics were less positive across the transition from primary to secondary school, and with respect to motivation this decline was stronger for girls than for boys. Furthermore, medium to strong correlations between belief- and motivation subdomains were found, for instance, students who view mathematics as a creative subject and/or have a growth mindset of mathematics also tend to find this subject enjoyable and perceive it as useful. Finally, our results indicate that inquiry-based teaching has a potential for fostering positive dispositions towards mathematics, as students who often experience inquiry-related activities in class also tend to see mathematics as a creative and interesting subject that will be useful for them in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research in mathematics education has yielded a great number of results on mathematics teachers' beliefs in recent decades, it is still an open question as to whether these teachers' beliefs are stable or not. However, since mathematics teachers' beliefs are perceived to be the default of their classroom practices, it is important to gain insight into these beliefs and into their development. In this paper, we contribute to this field of research by providing an approach designed to analyse a change in teachers' belief systems. We study a sample of 20 prospective teachers during their first practical experience. We analyse the structure of teachers' belief systems with interviews and a questionnaire set twice within one year. To analyse development of these teachers' belief systems, we assigned the young teachers of the first and second survey to clusters that were developed in a former study and re-analysed for our purposes here. Our results show considerable changes in mathematics teachers' central beliefs during their first practical experience. However, a general pattern of belief changes is not found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is important to producing students prepared for problem solving, critical analysis, and collaborative approaches to address the needs of the 21st century. For meaningful and intentional STEM instruction to occur, teachers need support and professional development. This paper presents a case study of a year-long professional learning project connecting the school's environmental science focus to improving mathematics instruction. A whole school agreement bounds this particular case. The school faculty initiated the project and included developing a mathematics trail to connect with their nature trail, garden, and an outdoor amphitheater. The quantitative and qualitative data reveal significant changes in mathematics practices and teachers' beliefs about the teaching and learning of mathematics. Since this case study revealed that whole school professional development in STEM could improve the teaching and learning of mathematics, implications for practice and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated 77 Taiwanese pre-service primary teachers' beliefs, knowledge and emotions about mathematics teaching and learning by using a drawing task: specifically, creating pictures of themselves as mathematics teachers at work. Its major findings were: (1) The majority of the participants chose to illustrate a mix of teacher- and student-centred beliefs, content knowledge (CK), and positive emotions about themselves and their students. (2) Those drawings that reflected teacher-centred beliefs were more likely to contain depictions of CK and mixed emotions, whereas those that indicated student-centred beliefs were more likely to depict pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and positive emotions. (3) Around 40% of participants who specified knowledge and emotions in their drawings seemed to feel personally more comfortable when their teaching was focused on CK. (4) Thus, in contrast to prior studies that reported mixed findings, the present research might imply that teacher educators should place greater emphasis on developing pre-service teachers' PCK than their CK, with the aim of building teachers' student-centred beliefs. (5) Lastly, we propose the term "affect-laden teacher knowledge" for the knowledge captured by the drawing task, and discuss the implications of using such knowledge in teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]