Exploratory investigation of the beliefs and practices of elementary mathematics teachers of high and low performing schools in Metro Manila

College

Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC College of Education

Department/Unit

Science Education

Document Type

Archival Material/Manuscript

Publication Date

2003

Abstract

This study explores the beliefs and practices of elementary mathematics teachers in high and low performing schools in Metro Manila during the school year 2002-2003. Beliefs are focused on the goals of mathematics education, nature of mathematics teaching and mathematics learning, while practices are focused on the tangible classroom activities of the teacher. Category of schools is based on their performance in the National Elementary Achievement Test Math sub-component test. The study considered the two contrasting beliefs in mathematics education as discussed by Bernardo (2000), which are the School Mathematics Tradition (SMT) and Inquiry Mathematics Tradition (IMT). Teachers' beliefs were established through questionnaires and interviews, while their practices were established through classroom observations. The data gathered were described and analyzed using the mean, standard deviation, IVilcoxon test for independent means and Spearman rho correlation. Results show that the teacher-participants strongly believe on both IMT and SMT. When grouped accordingly, the high performing school (HPS) teachers' beliefs on the nature of math learning lean towards IMT; while the low performing schools (LPS) teachers' beliefs lean towards SMT. The beliefs of HPS and LPS teachers are significantly different in terms of the nature of math learning, Meanwhile, when grouped accordingly, the HPS teachers' practices lean towards IMT; while the LPS teachers' practices lean towards SMT. Moreover, the teaching practices of HPS and LPS teachers are significantly different. The teachers' beliefs and practices are not significantly related, in both HPS and LPS. This implies that the teacher-participants' practices are influenced by external factors, and not entirely by their own beliefs. In addition, the length of math teaching experience of teachers and the degree of exposure to seminar/workshops are not significantly related to their beliefs and practices.

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Disciplines

Science and Mathematics Education

Note

Publication/creation date supplied

Keywords

Mathematics teachers—Philippines—Metro Manila; Mathematics—Study and teaching (Elementary)—Philippines—Metro Manila

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