Primary teachers’ affect: a crucial variable in the teaching of mathematics

Abstract

Mathematics education is strongly interested in defining ”what is necessary for teaching mathematics effectively”. The main directions of research emphasize the cognitive side of the answer to this question, trying to describe what kind of knowledge is needed in order to teach mathematics effectively. Starting from the point that teachers’ affect plays a crucial role in determining the quality of teaching, we discuss this issue from a theoretical point of view, introducing the construct of ”attitude towards mathematics teaching”. Within this theoretical framework we conducted a study with 189 primary school pre-service teachers, investigating teachers’ emotions, beliefs and attitudes. In this paper, we analyze and discuss the relationship among the participants’ emotional disposition towards mathematics and towards the idea of having to teach it, their past experiences as math-students and the current perceived competence in mathematics.