Page 20 - Children’s mathematical development and learning needs in perspective of teachers’ use of dynamic math interviews
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Chapter 1
for teaching with children’s mathematics achievement. Some studies show significant influences of mathematical knowledge for teaching on children’s achievement (Campbell et al., 2014; Hill et al., 2005) while others do not (Muijs & Reynolds, 2002; Shechtman et al., 2010). Most studies investigated mathematical knowledge for teaching in relation to the quality of teachers’ teaching in this subject matter and instructional quality in particular (Baumert et al., 2010; Hill et al., 2008). In addition, it can be concluded that not only mathematical knowledge for teaching but also teacher’s math-related beliefs and attitudes clearly play a role in their mathematics teaching practices (Wilkins, 2008).
Teacher self-efficacy in relation to the teaching of mathematics
Teacher self-efficacy within the domain of mathematics teaching refers to the teacher’s own perceptions of their capacity to promote children’s mathematics learning, mathematics achievement, and mathematics engagement (Bandura, 1993, 1997; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001). Based on the process-oriented model of teacher self- efficacy as put forth by Woolfolk Hoy et al. (2009), higher levels of math achievement can be expected in classrooms where the teacher believes in their capacity to perform the tasks and conduct the activities needed to realize math learning goals. Recently, Perara and John (2020) found teachers’ self-efficacy with regard to mathematics teaching to positively correlate with average class levels of achievement and teacher-student interaction quality. Nevertheless, relatively few studies have found significant associations between teacher self-efficacy and children’s mathematics achievement (Ashton & Webb, 1986; Tella, 2008). And in a review study, Klassen et al. (2011) pointed out that the connections between teacher self-efficacy and children’s mathematics achievement are not as strong as presumed.
To summarize, research has shown inconsistent results for the associations between — on the one hand — actual mathematics teaching behavior, teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching, and teachers’ mathematics teaching self-efficacy and — on the other hand — children’s mathematical development. Greater clarity is thus needed about the specific roles of these aspects of mathematics teaching in children’s mathematical development.
 




























































































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