Non-specialist primary school mathematics teachers’ beliefs

Abstract

Abstract This paper reports on a qualitative exploratory case study of four out-of-field primary school mathematics teachers in rural South Africa. The focus is on their subject knowledge and didactical expertise as aspects of their teacher identity through the lens of their beliefs about the subject. The purpose of the study was to examine whether non-specialist teachers developed a professional mathematics teacher identity through experience. The findings reveal that the participants’ lack of subject matter knowledge and didactical expertise were related to their beliefs about the nature of mathematics. The resultant weak learner performance further entrenched these teachers’ belief that mathematics is extremely difficult for teacher and learner alike. The participants demonstrated a lack of confidence, taught various mathematical concepts incorrectly, and could not explain the mathematical concepts. Their instrumentalist beliefs serve predominantly as a coping strategy, mitigating the cognitive and emotional difficulties linked to instructing a subject in which they have insufficient understanding. The interviews and observations revealed little professional development despite years of experience. The paper concludes with a discussion emphasising the importance of aligning these teachers’ belief systems concerning mathematics subject knowledge and didactic skills, with mentoring and professional identity development. In the absence of this alignment, these entrenched belief systems are unlikely to change.