It's Only Maths: The Potential Impact of a Mentoring Project to Ameliorate Mathematics Anxiety in Teacher Education Students

This paper presents initial data from a study being undertaken into the potential effects of a mentoring program for teacher education students who have self-identified as suffering from mathematics anxiety. The first phase of the study saw 8 primary teacher education students opt into a program matching them in pairs with 4 mentor teachers who had been selected by their principals after meeting 6 criteria that identified them as highly capable mentors in mathematics education. The mentees worked with the mentors in classrooms for 8 weeks. After the program the students were interviewed. Data from these students is explored here with particular emphasis on an artefact presented by one of the students about her journey through the process.