Teachers’ Beliefs, Instructional Practices, and Culture: Understanding Effective Mathematics Teaching in the Philippines

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Maass ◽  
Malcolm Swan ◽  
Anna-Maria Aldorf

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a more student-centered approach to mathematics teaching that is recommended by many policy and curriculum documents across Europe. However, it is not easy for teachers to change from a more teacher-centered way of teaching to inquiry-based teaching as this involves a change of their role in class. Professional development courses are one way to help teachers with this endeavor. Within the discussion of effective professional development, beliefs are often named as an important influencing factor. In this respect, much research has been carried out on how beliefs on mathematics teaching impact the outcomes of the course. However, there has been much less research on what beliefs mathematics teachers develop on inquiry-based learning and how this might impact their (perceived) classroom teaching. Therefore, this paper presents an international research study carried out within the European Project Primas, in which professional development courses on inquiry-based learning were conducted in 12 countries. Using the case-study approach, this paper aims at answering the following questions: 1. What kind of beliefs about IBL do mathematics teachers across Europe develop? 2. How do these beliefs relate to teachers’ perceived enactments of IBL?


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 253
Author(s):  
Miikka Wikholm ◽  
Juli-Anna Aerila

The Finnish school system will transfer to the new Core Curriculum for Basic Education 2014 in 2016. The new curriculum emphasizes integration of subjects. In Finland, mathematics and the mother tongue are the two subjects which are taught the most and therefore play a significant role in every primary teacher’s weekly routine. Unlike English-speaking countries, Finland lacks children’s literature aimed towards use in mathematics teaching. This study aimed to understand teachers’ and teacher-trainees’ points of view on the extent to which they use children’s literature in teaching mathematics in primary school and how to efficiently use children’s literature in teaching mathematics in primary school. This study was a part of an international study entitled ‘Teachers’ beliefs on the integration of children’s literature in primary mathematics learning and teaching: A comparative study’, including universities from England, Hong Kong, Australia, and Finland. The aim was to determine teachers’ beliefs concerning integration of children’s literature into mathematics teaching and to the extent to which this benefits learning. Data collection was conducted via web-based questionnaires translated into Finnish from spring to autumn 2015. Mixed methods data analysis showed that teachers/teacher-trainees do not use children’s literature in mathematics teaching, but they still recognize various ways to implement it into their teaching. Previous studies on the use of literature in mathematics teaching show that children’s literature may provide a meaningful context to develop mathematical skills and foster children’s positive attitudes towards mathematics, as the stories in the literature are presented in an engaging and approachable manner.Keywords: mathematics, children’s literature, teaching


Author(s):  
Jesson L. Hero ◽  
Ma. Cristina E. Zulueta ◽  
Daianne S. Gloria ◽  
Jose Carlo L. Tongol ◽  
Aaron C. Dela Cruz ◽  
...  

In the advent of Information and Communications Technology in education, competence and skills for technology-based instruction are essential for teachers. With this, there is a need to continually train and equip teachers with understanding and capabilities that will enable them to maximize the utilization of ICT in their instructional practices. Hence, this research determined the correlation of teachers' level of ICT competence towards their ICT integration practices and corroborated it to existing findings in Thailand and Vietnam. Using a descriptive-correlational design, the researchers found a link between and among variables. The chosen respondents for the study consisted of onehundred and nineteen (119) teachers from private institutions in a district in Bulacan. Results showed that teachers exhibited competence towards ICT integration. More so, teachers highly practiced ICT integration as part of their instructional practices and strategies in teaching. Results of regression analysis of the data revealed that the six dimensions of ICT competence significantly correlated to the teachers' ICT integration practices. The pedagogical practices and competence of Filipino teachers are the same as the Thai and Vietnamese teachers towards ICT Integration. It is recommended that schools maintain teachers' competence and confidence towards ICT integration thru enhancement or faculty development programs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Jeri Araiku ◽  
Somakim Somakim ◽  
Yusuf Hartono ◽  
Indaryanti Indaryanti

[Bahasa]: Kegiatan pengadian kepada masyarakat (PkM) ini bertujuan untuk mendampingi guru dalam membuat bahan ajar matematika berbasis etnomatematika dan mengetahui respon peserta terhadap kegiatan tersebut. Metode yang digunakan adalah service learning yang terbagi menjadi dua kegiatan yaitu synchronous dan asynchronous. Anchronous terdiri atas penyampaian materi dan presentasi, sedangkan asynchronous berupa bimbingan pembuatan bahan ajar. Peserta yang mengikuti kegiatan PkM ini adalah sebanyak 408 guru matematika yang menghasilkan sebanyak 78 buah bahan ajar setelah revisi. Hasil pengabdian ini menunjukkan lima kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh guru matematika dalam menuliskan bahan ajar berbasis etnomatematika antara lain: (1) bahan ajar yang dibuat tidak sesuai template yang ditentukan, (2) bahan ajar tidak memanfaatkan filosofi/nilai budaya, namun hanya melihat bentuk objek, (3) bahan ajar tidak didasarkan pada budaya tertentu, (4) materi dan langkah pembelajaran tidak sesuai dengan filosofi budaya yang diangkat, dan (5) kegiatan tidak dirancang dengan baik dan berpotensi plagiat. Respon peserta terhadap kegiatan dapat dikategorikan sangat baik (4,55), sedangkan pengetahuan peserta mengenai etnomatematika dan kesulitan yang mungkin dihadapi peserta dalam membuat dan menerapkan bahan ajar berbasis etnomatematika di kelas tergolong baik, dengan nilai rata-rata masing-masing 3,9. Hal yang masih perlu diperhatikan oleh guru matematika adalah meluangkan lebih banyak waktu dalam mengeksplorasi nilai budaya sehingga filosofi dari budaya tersebut sesuai dengan konteks materi yang akan diajarkan. Guru juga perlu meningkatkan kemampuan dalam membuat dan menerapkan bahan ajar berbasis etnomatematika dalam proses pembelajaran matematika. Kata Kunci: etnomatematika, pembuatan bahan ajar, pengabdian kepada masyarakat, matematika [English]: This community service program (PkM) aims to assist teachers in designing ethnomatematics-based mathematics teaching materials and examine participants' responses to the program. The method used is service learning in the form of synchronous and asynchronous. The first included presentations and content discussions, while the latter was to guide the teachers design teaching materials. There were 408 mathematics teachers participated in this program which resulted in 78 revised teaching materials. There were five mistakes made by the mathematics teachers in designing the ethnomathematics-based teaching materials: (1) it did not comply the specified template, (2) it did not acknowledge cultural philosophies/values, but only refer to the shape of the object, (3) it did not adopt a specific culture, (4) the materials and learning steps were not in accordance with the cultural philosophy used, and (5) the activities were not well designed and have the potential for plagiarism. Participants’ responses to the program can be categorized as very good (4.55), while the participants' knowledge of ethnomatematics and the difficulties that participants may face in making and applying ethnomatics-based teaching materials in the classroom are classified as good, whereas each indicators has the average of 3.9. To the teachers need to spend more time exploring culture so that the philosophy of the culture is in accordance with the material to be taught. Also, the teachers should improve their ability to create ethnomathematical-based teaching materials and apply it in the instructional practices. Keywords: ethnomatematics, designing teaching materials, community service, mathematics


ZDM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 1365-1380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mdutshekelwa Ndlovu ◽  
Viren Ramdhany ◽  
Erica D. Spangenberg ◽  
Rajendran Govender

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