Mathematical thinking of kindergarten boys and girls: similar achievement, different contributing processes

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine gender differences in the relations between verbal, spatial, mathematics, and teacher-child mathematics interaction variables. Kindergarten children (N=80) were videotaped playing games that require mathematical reasoning in the presence of their teachers. The children's mathematics, spatial, and verbal skills and the teachers' mathematical communication were assessed. No gender differences were found between the mathematical achievements of the boys and girls, or between their verbal and spatial skills. However, mathematics performance was related to boys' spatial reasoning and to girls' verbal skills, suggesting that they use different processes for solving mathematical problems. Furthermore, the boys' levels of spatial and verbal skills were not found to be related, whereas they were significantly related for girls. The mathematical communication level provided in teacher-child interactions was found to be related to girls' but not to boys' mathematics performance, suggesting that boys may need other forms of mathematics communication and teaching.

‘Boys Press All the Buttons and Hope It Will Help’: Upper Secondary School Teachers’ Gendered Conceptions About Students’ Mathematical Reasoning

“…According to sixth-grade teachers from the USA, if girls are successful, it is due to hard work, whereas boys succeed because they are bright (Jussim & Eccles, 1992). In a study focusing on gender symbols and Israeli pre-school children, mathematical success was by teachers attributed to different things depending if you talked about a girl or a boy (Klein, Adi-Japha, & Hakak-Benizri, 2010). If a boy was prosperous, the success was related to, according to these teachers, spatial ability, but if a girl was thriving, it was thought to be dependent on the girl's verbal ability.…”

Relationship between Early Mathematical Competence, Gender and Social Background in Chilean Elementary School Population. [Relación entre los niveles de competencia matemática temprana, género y extracción social en la población escolar primaria en Chile]

“…This finding is in line with other research which found that the differences between boys and girls in the early years in mathematics performance are not significant (Klein, Adi-anales de psicología, 2014, vol. 30, nº 3 (octubre) Japha & Hakak-Benizri, 2010;Lachance & Mazzoco, 2006;Navarro et al, 2009;Navarro, Aguilar, Marchena, Alcalde and García, 2010;Van de Rijt, 1996). In Chile, the data provided by national assessments confirm that after the first cycle of elementary education there are no significant differences in achievement levels in mathematics between boys and girls, contrary to what happens at the end of secondary education, when boys have better performance than girls (MINEDUC, 2007b(MINEDUC, , 2007c.…”

Gender and Mathematics Education Revisited

“…Four papers focused on mathematics at preschool level. Klein et al (2010) studied pre-school teachers' attributions of children's achievements in mathematics, and Ojala and Talts (2007) looked at pre-school 1,2,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4, 4 Note The number of papers is 92 a Seven European countries b Comparative study Finland and Estonia c Gender aspect: 1 structural; 2 symbolic; 3 personal; 4 interactional teachers' evaluations of achievements. Palmer (2009Palmer ( , 2010) studied pre-school teacher education when writing about alternative mathematical practices.…”