Early years teachers beliefs for anticipating during planning

Reporting on teacher practices and developing an understanding of approaches to planning for teaching is important for enhancing teaching in primary/elementary mathematics classrooms. Qualitative survey methods were used to report on teachers’ beliefs when considering how often they should anticipate when planning and why anticipating is important for teachers of students in Foundation Level to Year 2 (aged 5-8 years old). Of the 65 teachers surveyed, the majority agreed that anticipating was important when planning and half suggested anticipating student responses would assist when responding to students’ responses during teaching. Helping teachers consider different approaches for anticipating prior to teaching including planning enabling and extending prompts has implications for tailoring their teaching strategies, thereby enhancing student engagement and mathematical understanding.