Previous research shows that many prospective and early childhood teachers have low self-confidence and negative attitudes towards mathematics (Hollingsworth & Knight McKenna, 2018; Linder & Simpson, 2018; Panero et al., 2023). These negative attitudes influence their teaching of mathematics and thus what children are offered to learn (Geist, 2015; Knaus, 2017; Linder & Simpson, 2018). Offering a sustainable and equitable mathematics education to all preschool children thus means all preschool teachers need to see mathematics as something they have the competence to teach, for which positive attitudes are important.
The aim of this study is to investigate attitudes towards mathematics among prospective preschool teachers who have just started their teacher education. The results will have relevance for preschool teacher education and give implications for what to consider when working to promote prospective preschool teachers’ attitudes toward mathematics.
We use the concept of attitude and adopt a multidimensional definition (Wen & Dube, 2022) where cognitive as well as affective and behavioral components are included.
The study employs a mixed methods design. We used a short form of Tapia and Marsh's (2004) Attitudes Towards Mathematics Inventory (ATMI) questionnaire, developed and tested by Lim and Chapman (2013), and reflective written texts. 34 students participated in the study.
Preliminary results from the qualitative data show that prospective preschool teachers have negative experiences of mathematics which affect how they view mathematics and how they feel about the subject. Concerning the cognitive dimension they describe mathematics in words like “it is difficult”, “something I struggle with” and “something we need to know for everyday life”. About the affective dimension, the participants express no joy for the subject, however, their negative experiences seem to have motivated them to give preschool children better opportunities to learn and enjoy mathematics. We expect further analyses of the reflective texts to provide results concerning the behavioral dimension of attitudes. Also, the questionnaire remains to be analysed.
The most common method for measuring attitudes is questionnaires that are analysed quantitatively (Wen & Dube, 2022). In recent years, however, several researchers have called for more qualitative methods (e.g. Di Martino & Zan, 2011; Kaasila et al.,2012). To date, there are few studies, especially in the Nordic context, that focus on prospective early childhood teachers’ attitudes toward mathematics with qualitative methods. Thus, our mixed methods approach aims to meet this call.
2025.