Comparing Primary and Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Beliefs about Mathematics, Mathematics Learning and Mathematics Teaching in Hong Kong and Australia

Abstract

This study has demonstrated a number of important aspects about the need for the consideration of teachers’ beliefs about mathematics, mathematics learning and mathematics teaching. Foremost among these is that, as measured on the beliefs instrument used here, teachers in Hong Kong, at both primary and secondary levels, espouse significantly different beliefs from those espoused by their NSW counterparts. If we believe that teachers’ beliefs affect their teaching and that teaching affects student outcomes, then it is possible that the differences in beliefs which are highlighted by this study could help explain some of the differences in student achievement which have been reported in international studies. Teacher beliefs are rooted in, and constrained by, the culture of the society in which the teachers are living and working, in the culture of the education systems and traditions of the society and in their own experiences as school students, teacher education students and members of school communities. As well, teachers must respond to parental, societal and student pressures in terms of examinations and other assessment and pedagogical challenges. These pressures are also rooted in the various cultures of which the education systems are part. Hence, the expectation that cultural norms and patterns might affect teacher beliefs and practices is not surprising. In this paper, these aspects of Hong Kong and New South Wales, Australia cultures have been explored and related to the different responses of these societies to the mathematical education of their children. Of course, beliefs are not the entire story, but they are an essential part of cross-cultural comparisons in mathematics education which deserve greater recognition and research.