Mathematical Beliefs Held by Costa Rican Pre-Service Teachers and Teacher Educators

Abstract

Beliefs have been conceived as a hidden variable in mathematics education. It is important to know teachers’ beliefs as they can inform the way that teachers teach mathematics, make decisions in the classroom, and form opinions about the abilities of students. In Costa Rica, studies about beliefs have been conducted with in-service teachers, but there is no research on pre-service teachers and the beliefs they bring to the classroom from their teacher education programs (TEPs). This research aims to describe the beliefs held by 76 pre-service teachers and 19 teacher educators from four Costa Rican public universities, using the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M) questionnaire. The results suggest that both pre-service teachers and teacher educators believe in a constructivist orientation focused on the learner. Both groups support the view of mathematics as a process of inquiry and active learning and agree that mathematical skills are not fixed or associated with gender or culture. In the literature, the beliefs manifested by the participants are associated with positive results regarding student outcomes and teaching practices. Therefore, policymakers should be concerned with providing environments that allow and encourage teachers to continue with these belief orientations when they start teaching.

Turkish adaptation of the Mathematics Teachers Beliefs Scale

“…Various studies have investigated beliefs about mathematics across different sample groups, practices, and types of conceptions, including the nature of mathematics, textbooks, problem posing and solving, its teaching and learning, mathematical skills, technology, and curriculum (Alfaro- Víquez & Joutsenlahti, 2021;Hacıömeroğlu, 2011Hacıömeroğlu, , 2012Handal, 2003;Jamieson-Proctor & Byrne, 2008;Kloosterman & Stage, 1992). The present study concentrates on the mathematics beliefs of teachers, as each teacher holds certain beliefs about mathematics that influence their priorities in teaching and learning practices (Pajares, 1992;Speer, 2005).…”