Perspectives on mathematics education for young children

Through interviews with 32 participants, this study cast a wide net in its attempt to understand four professional groups’ views on mathematics education for young children. These groups included (a) mathematicians, (b) teacher educators, (c) cognitive/developmental psychologists who study young children’s mathematics learning, and (d) preschool and kindergarten teachers. Both similarities and differences were found across groups. All participants have optimistic views on children’s mathematical ability. Newly suggested in this study, by psychologists, is to connect how children construct mathematical knowledge with pedagogical strategies. There was substantial agreement on the range of content areas that should be taught to young children. These included (a) number sense and operations, (b) algebraic thinking, (c) geometry, (d) measurement, and (e) data analysis. Mathematicians suggested an ideal sequence for teaching mathematical content areas. All four groups addressed three substantial ideas related to pedagogy: (a) instilling a positive attitude about math, (b) using diverse teaching strategies, and (c) finding various ways to support teachers. Teacher educators were particularly concerned that current teacher education programs do not prepare teachers well enough to teach math effectively because of the limited number of required courses related to teaching math. Implications for practice and suggestions for further research are presented. A critical goal for future research should be to get these four groups talking with each other.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum and Instruction

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Jang, Youn Joo

Contributors dc:contributor

• Westbury, Ian
• Perry, Michelle
• Lubienski, Sarah T.
• Walsh, Daniel J.
• Daniel J. Walsh

• young children
• mathematics education
• children's mathematical cognition
• mathematics content
• pedagogy

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2013 Youn Joo Jang

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45405

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/45405