Epistemologies, beliefs and conceptions of mathematics teaching and learning: The theory, and what is manifested in mathematics teachers' work in England,

Abstract

This paper firstly explores the issues raised in the literature concerning epistemologies, beliefs and conceptions of mathematics and its teaching and learning. Secondly, it analyses the ways in which mathematics teachers’ classroom practices in England, France and Germany reflect teachers’ beliefs and conception of mathematics and its teaching and learning. Drawing on a recent study of mathematics teachers’ work in England, France and Germany, the findings suggest that teachers’ beliefs and conceptions are manifested in their practices and can be traced back to philosophical traditions of the three countries, to epistemological and educational trends of mathematics and mathematics education, and to personal constructions. It is suggested that teachers’ pedagogical styles are a personal response to a set of assumptions about the subject and its teaching and learning, to a set of educational and philosophical traditions, and to a set of institutional and societal constraints. Thus, it is argued that teachers’ pedagogies need to be analysed and understood in terms of a larger cultural context and in relation to teachers’ conceptions and beliefs, and that a lack of such understanding is likely to inhibit the process of change at all levels of the system.