Exploring the relationship between teacher enjoyment of mathematics, their attitudes towards student struggle and instructional time amongst early years primary teachers

James Russo, Janette Bobis, Peter Sullivan, Ann Downton, Sharyn Livy, Melody McCormick, Sally Hughes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

49 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this study we explored the relationship between teacher enjoyment of teaching mathematics, their attitudes towards student struggle, and the amount of time teachers spent teaching mathematics. Ninety-eight primary educators were surveyed regarding their attitudes and behaviors towards mathematics instruction. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that teacher enjoyment of teaching mathematics explained variance in both teacher attitudes towards student struggle and instructional time spent on mathematics, even after relevant educator characteristics were accounted for. Findings suggest that teacher enjoyment of teaching mathematics in the early primary years has important implications for both the quality and quantity of mathematics instruction students receive.
Original languageEnglish
Article number102983
Number of pages9
JournalTeaching and Teacher Education
Volume88
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2020

Keywords

  • Mathematics teaching
  • Teacher enjoyment
  • Student struggle
  • Instructional time
  • Primary teachers
  • Teacher attitudes

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