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Standards for Mathematical Practice

Teachers Mathematical Beliefs
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Article(s) or website you are connecting your blog to: Teachers Mathematical Beliefs: A
Review by Boris Handal

Observation Date(s): 9/12/14
Blog Post Date: 9/19/14

Part 1
General Background of Visit
Setting: North Strawberry Elementary School, Mrs. Birks 4
th
Grade Math and
Spelling Classes
Number and General Demographics of Students: The first class has 17 students.
There are 10 boys and 7 girls and none of them have an IEP. 2 of the female students
are Black, 1 male student is Indian, and 1 male student is Hispanic. In Mrs. Birks
second class there are 19 students. 10 of the students are male, and 9 are female.
Once again, there are no IEPs in the classroom. There is 1 male Asian student, 1
female Indian student, and 1 black female in the second class. There are no ELL
students in either of the classes.
Special Circumstances: Mr. Cap, the technology teacher brought the Ipads into the
class for an interactive math lesson. He assisted Mrs. Birks using the application
Nearpod.
Part 2
I arrived in Mrs. Birks' fourth grade math class eager to observe. The students were continuing
to compare multi-digit numbers using their place value skills. They were also using this place
value understanding to round multi-digit numbers to the nearest whole number. I was very
interested for the lesson to begin because my focus for today was on Mrs. Birks' mathemat ical
beliefs. There were many things that I was looking for in order to understand Mrs. Birks'
outlook on mathematics education. More specifically, I was observing to identify if
constructivist strategies were capitalized upon in the classroom. "constructivism, gives
recognition and value to new instructional strategies in which students are able to learn
mathematics by personally and socially constructing mathematical knowledge. Constructivist
strategies advocate instruction that emphasizes problem-solving and generative learning, as well
as reflective processes and exploratory learning. These strategies also recommend group
learning, plenty of discussion, informal and lateral thinking, and situated learning." (Handal, pg.
47). This type of instruction is in direct contrast to the traditional instruction. Traditional
instruction emphasizes procedures, rote learning, drills, and one-way procedures. Little did I
know that I had selected the best class for observing Mrs. Birks' outlook on mathematics
instruction. A teacher specializing in technology was scheduled to run the math class for
today. With him he brought a class set of Ipads, one per student. Using the app called
"Nearpod", each student joined the class session. The teacher was able t0 control each child's
Ipad at will. He would select a question and this question would show up on every student's
Ipad. Using the tools provided on the app, students were able to draw, label, and write with their
fingers. The questions were not one-answer questions and instead focused on a conceptual
understanding. Students answered word problems, drew diagrams, and always explained their
reasoning for their answers. After each problem, the teacher would pull up anonymous examples
of the student's answers. He made sure to show good examples and bad examples so the students
understood what was expected from them. He also encouraged class discussion as the students
offered their own strategies, examples. and advice to their peers. This entire lesson was very
interactive and discussion-rich. The questions asked during the lesson required that the students
show their conceptual knowledge in a variety of ways. After observing the lesson, I was able to
consider what Mrs. Birks' math instruction beliefs are. "Teachers' theories of learning and
teaching are said to relate to approaches used in class and are fundamental because they define
the teacher's perception of the learner's role as active or passive, dependent or autonomous, or as
receiver or creator of knowledge." (Handal, pg. 48). The class was very student-centered and
Mrs. Birks and the technology specialist were not leading the class in a traditional lecture-based
format. Rather, they encouraged students to use strategies on their own in order to find the
answer. The majority of the questions were not simple one-answer questions. Instead, they
required students to carefully read the problem multiple times, draw pictures, and explain their
reasoning. This led me to believe that Mrs. Birks' believed in a constructivist classroom where
the learners construct their own conceptual knowledge through social interactions. I was also led
to believe that Mrs. Birks planned her classes in a content-focused view with emphasis on
conceptual understanding. While reading the article I was informed that many teachers are
swayed by a variety of factors when instructing. It was obvious to me that Mrs. Birks was under
a certain degree of stress when she came across students who were struggling with the
material. "The analysis of data revealed that teachers do not implement fully their ideal
conceptions of mathematics education because of perceived pressure from parents and school
administrators to implement traditional teaching." (Handal, pg. 52). I am sure these outside
pressures were some of the reasons behind Mrs. Birks' mix of content-focused instruction and
socio-constructivist instruction. My careful observations of the classroom showed me that Mrs.
Birks was not consistently attached to a single belief system, which is natural. "Research also
shows that teachers may not hold consistent belief systems." (Handal, pg. 53). "According to the
authors, within each teacher's belief system there are beliefs that appear to be ideologically
incompatible with the others." (Handal, pg. 54). It seems almost impossible to me that teachers
could maintain a consistent ideology in a classroom with so many inconsistencies. "Reasons for
the inconsistencies were found to be lack of resources, time limitations, discipline, and pressure
to conform to standardized testing." (Handal, pg. 52). I can conclude that Mrs. Birks'
mathematical beliefs greatly influence her instruction techniques in the classroom. She tends to
stay far away from any traditional instruction and focuses instead on constructivism and
conceptual understanding. My own beliefs resemble Mrs. Birks' in that traditional classrooms
are not the best way for students to learn. I believe students should always be constructing their
own knowledge through interactive, inquiry-based instruction. I loved the Ipads during the math
lesson because it encouraged student communication and problem-solving. Students were
required to think deeper about each problem in order to explain why they know they got the right
answer. I cannot yet speak about the outside pressures and inconsistencies, but I do imagine that
they will influence my teaching. There may be times where I stress content as the focus for a
lesson, however I plan to always address mathematical content in appropriate socio-
constructivist manner. In concluding, I would say Mrs. Birks and I closely share similar beliefs
about mathematical instruction. I look forward to observing more math classes and more
instructional beliefs throughout the year.