Australian primary school teachers’ perceived barriers to and enablers for the integration of children’s literature in mathematics teaching and learning

Abstract

This qualitative survey study set out to investigate in-service and pre-service primary school teachers’ perceived barriers to and enablers for the integration of children’s literature in mathematics teaching and learning in an Australian educational context. While research over the past three decades have documented pedagogical benefits of teaching mathematics using children’s literature, research into teachers’ perceptions regarding the use of such resources is virtually non-existent. The study thus filled this research gap by drawing responses from open-ended survey questions of 94 in-service and 82 pre-service teachers in Australia. A thematic analysis revealed 13 perceived barriers classified under five themes with Lack of Pedagogical Knowledge and Confidence, and Time Constraint, representing 75% of all perceived barriers. Moreover, 14 perceived enablers were identified and classified under five themes with Pedagogical Benefits and Love of Stories representing around 70% of all perceived enablers. Findings also showed that most of the teachers in the study (around 75%) never or infrequently used children’s literature in their mathematics classrooms. The study highlights the role of professional learning and teacher training in ensuring that both in- and pre-service teachers have the necessary pedagogical knowledge, experience and confidence in using children’s literature to enrich their mathematics teaching.

An Evaluation of The Preservice-Teacher Training for Children’s Literature and Mathematics Integration

“…Pre-service teachers may understand the importance of practitioner competencies as they observed that a qualified integration requires a lot of effort and time, such as choosing a book and preparing a detailed lesson plan, as well as successfully implementing this plan. These findings of the study are convenient with the literature because in most of the studies, in-service and pre-service teachers both underlined the time constraint and the limited resources such as books that are appropriate for mathematics education as barriers to the integration (Can et al, 2020;Farrugia & Trakulphadetkrai, 2020;Livy et al, 2021;Prendergast et al, 2019). With this training, they could see the potential of the other children's books that are not directly linked with mathematics.…”

“…Teachers' planned behavior about the integration of children's literature and mathematics education was investigated by lots of detailed qualitative studies. In these studies, researchers found that teachers were hesitant about the benefits of this integration because of their lack of pedagogical knowledge (Farrugia & Trakulphadetkrai, 2020;Livy et al, 2021;Prendergast et al, 2019). So, with the training provided in this study, pre-service teachers may gain new insights into the integration process.…”

“…This can be considered a sign that they are open to professional development in this regard, in conjunction with the studies (Edelman, 2017;Prendergast et al, 2019). Just like the pre-service teachers, in-service teachers also believed that the two biggest barriers to the integration process were their awareness/competence of integration and access to appropriate books (Livy et al, 2021;Prendergast et al, 2019;Trakulphadetkrai, 2017). In this online training, pre-service teachers gained knowledge about the importance of mathematics and children's literature integration, and this allowed them to make connections between theory and practice.…”

Using Rich Narratives to Engage Students in Worthwhile Mathematics: Children’s Literature, Movies and Short Films

“…The use of children's literature or picture story books in mathematics instruction is a commonly promoted practice with a rich history over decades [28]. A recent study by Livy and colleagues [29] revealed that three-quarters of Australian in-service primary school teachers who responded to their questionnaire used children's literature to support mathematics instruction at least occasionally, with around one-third of study teachers doing so more frequently (at least once per month). Numerous books describe the ways in which stories can be used as a springboard or hook for exploring mathematical ideas [30,31].…”

“…This could include preservice teachers developing their own challenging tasks around familiar narrative contexts, as well as them subsequently teaching with these tasks in a practical classroom environment. This may help to address one notable barrier to teaching mathematics using narratives such as picture story books that has been noted in the literature; specifically, that some teachers lack the pedagogical knowledge, confidence and experience to feel comfortable teaching mathematics in this manner [29].…”