Areas of Learning and Experince. 7

 What can be done to improve attitudes to Maths in primary classrooms?

A positive attitude to mathematics is often the first step to being successful with mathematics, however this is often the last thing which is demonstrated by students. (J. Willis, 2010:5). Math anxiety is often described as an inability for a person to cope with the challenges of mathematics often regardless of perceived intelligence of that person. (B. Perry, 2004). Mathematics anxiety (now known as ‘maths’ anxiety rest of text) is psychological but can show physiological effects. When confronted with a maths problem students with maths anxiety can display sweaty palms, feel sick, have heart palpitations, and commonly paralysis of thought. (B. Perry, 2004). In a poll of 1,000 people in the united states 37% of people stated that they hated maths in school. (J. Willis, 2010:5). However, random sampling of adults in the United States, found that 71% couldn’t calculate miles per gallon on a trip, and even more shockingly 58% couldnt calculate a 10% tip on a bill. Only 15% of these adults said they wish they went back to school or that they studied harder during maths in school. (Phillips cited in J. Willis, 2010:6). 

Maths anxiety is a developed anxiety which can have a huge impact on learning, however it is treatable. (Sheffield University, 2019). Math anxiety stems from a students' fear of failure or feelings of inadequacy, which often haunts them throughout their life when dealing with mathematics. (Sheffield University, 2019). Also many people may believe if their parents were not very good at maths this means that they cant be good at maths; which is a misconception, you dont have to really intelligent to be good at maths. (J. Willis, 2010:6). Other reasons for maths anxiety include self-expectations as a result of past experiences with maths, failure to engage with maths as fear of making mistakes and inadequate skills to complete mathematical problems. (J. Willis, 2010:6). a negative mindset towards maths can have many consequences such as: low motivation, high stress, failure to keep pace with class lessons, behavioral problems, boredom, low tolerance for challenge and often they will look to avoid maths in all ways possible. This can quite obviously have many effects in terms of mathematical development. (J. Willis, 2010:6-7). With this in mind, it is possible to ask the question, how do pupils not have maths anxiety? Pupils are asked to memorize procedures without being told why they have to learn this and often what was correct last year is often wrong this year without any explanation why. (J. Willis, 2010:7). Maths doesn’t provide much application to the real world and doesn’t include the pupil, therefore the brain operating at a low level of information intake and memory formation simply doesn’t care. (J. Willis, 2010:7). 

 Application to the real world is when students really get maths. However, simply providing a word problem about how many apples have been eaten students won’t find motivation in this. But, when confronted with some toothpicks and some card and then ask them to plan a pizza party seating problem described earlier, the students are directly involved and will build mathematical knowledge without maths anxiety. (J. Willis, 2010:8). 

Parents can have extremely high expectations for their children due to the desire of them wanted their children to do better than them, unfortunately this can add pressure to the child who then internalizes these feelings towards maths and maths anxiety is then developed. If the child does not reach expectations of the parents they can feel inadequate leading to conditions like depression, anxiety and physical illness. (J .Willis, 2010:10). Involving the parent in learning maths, through things such as family conferences, which may highlight some of the evidence of to the effects of high levels of stress linked to academic performance. These interventions could help explain that to succeed in maths you need to have a positive attitude towards it, not just the grades linked to it. This can help reduce anxiety surrounding maths. (J. Willis, 2010:11). 

Mathematical resilience is a term used to describe when a person or student develops a positive attitude or backbone towards completing maths tasks. (Johnston-Wilder et al, 2014). The growth zone developed by Johnstone-Wilder is a good structure in terms of understanding different learning experiences pupils have towards maths and the feelings attached to them. (Johnston-Wilder et al, 2014). When in the 'comfort zone' you are completing a task which is well in your mathematical capabilities. You will need to move beyond this zone to improve at maths. Once in the growth zone, you may make mistakes and you can use resources to aid your learning. This zone is where new learning occurs. When you become challenge beyond your current understanding you find yourself in the anxiety zone, this is where feelings of helplessness can take over, you can experience mental paralysis and feel stupid. no effective learning occurs in this zone and you will need to move out of this zone to reduce maths anxiety. (Johnston-wilder, 2014, Sheffield University, 2019).

During my time in university at Cardiff Metropolitan, during a seminar we were taught how to make maths more engaging by using the outdoors. I believe this technique may reduce maths anxiety for many pupils. It included using materials from outdoors to demonstrate the use of maths with applications to real life. E.g. measuring, counting etc. the outdoors is very interactive and so many maths skills can be demonstrated without having to guess like in textbooks. Here is a picture of how you could use outdoor materials to demonstrate maths. 

Reference List


Perry, Andrew B. "Decreasing Math Anxiety in College Students." College Student Journal 38.2 (2004): 321. Web.

Johnston-Wilder, S., Lee, C., Garton, E., Brindley, J. (2014). Developing teaching for mathematical resilience in further education. 7th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, ICERI2014, Seville, November, 2014.

Willis, Judy. (2010). 'Learning to Love Math Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get Results'. Alexandria, VA: ACSD, 2010. Web 

Sheffield University. (2019) 'Student strategies for overcoming maths anxiety'. https://www.sheffiled.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/2.753619!/file/Maths_anxiety_strategies.pdf. Last accessed: 06/05/19