Thoughts from the Chatsworth Primary Hallway

Disposition towards Learning Mathematics

Student disposition to learning mathematics is a factor in determining success in the subject area.  Researcher Paul Wilson stated, “pupil’s attitudes have a profound effect on the way they learn mathematics”.  Wilson also noted that, in addition to teaching skills and knowledge, teachers have a responsibility to attempt to cultivate positive attitudes of mathematics in their students.  Not surprisingly, the emotions that arise in students when faced with learning opportunities play a role in their overall attitude in the subject matter.  Students who have positive interactions with mathematics have an overall positive attitude.  The same could be said about negative interactions influencing negative attitudes toward mathematics.

Sparrow and Hurst have identified factors that negatively affect student attitudes about mathematics in the upper elementary grades.  When students began to work from “textbooks and sheets”, students reported that they were “bored” and were ‘over it’”.  Another reason students develop a negative attitude toward mathematics is that they hear, “many intelligent people, after an average of 1500 hours of instruction over eleven years of schooling, still regard mathematics as a meaningless activity for which they have no aptitude”.

In an effort for our students at Chatsworth International School to avoid feeling “bored” and “over it”, we shy away from activities that focus on the use textbooks and worksheets.  That is not to say that there is not a place in the PYP for rehearsal utilizing paper and pencil tasks.  However, we want to make sure that there is a balance of teaching our students conceptually with practice to enhance mathematic skills.

Dr. Michael Berry
Head of Primary