Preaching or Practising? Action Research into the Teaching of Early Childhood Mathematics Education

Summary

In this thesis I present a self-study action research project which looked into ways to improve my teaching of a college-based education course in the pedagogy of early childhood mathematics. My desire to change my practice stemmed from a feeling of dissatisfaction with my teaching of certain aspects of the course, and from the knowledge that, once they became teachers, many former students did not put what they had learned in the course into practice. Three major educational theories influenced the choice of teaching strategies incorporated into my work: constructivist theory, which is used to inform the teaching of mathematics pedagogy; situated learning theory, which focuses on the better use of the contexts in which the course is situated in order to increase its effectiveness; and the theory of Mediated Learning Experience which suggests ways of looking at interactions between teachers and students and of increasing the effectiveness of these interactions.

Chapter I describes the context in which the study took place. Chapter II reviews the literature on the development of expertise in professional practice and on the three theories that fonn the basis of my work. Chapter III deals with the methodology and methods used. The methodology section reviews the characteristics of self-study action research, the methodological and practical problems of self-study in one's own classroom and the challenge it poses to validity. The section on methods describes the methods used to collect and analyze the data. Chapter IV presents background knowledge regarding previous courses taken by the students involved in the study and regarding their perceptions and beliefs vis a vis mathematics and mathematics education. The following three chapters, Chapters V through VII, present accounts of three college-based modules which form the major part of the course Didactics of Early Childhood Mathematics Education which is the focus of this study. These accounts are based on tape recordings, post lesson notes, my reflective diary and student written responses. Chapter VIII is a critical review and evaluation of the outcomes of the course vis a vis the perceptions and beliefs of my students at the end of the year. It includes a review of the literature on developing beliefs in professional education. Chapter IX summarizes my learning and looks at the effects that this self-study project had on my teaching after its completion.

CONTENTS

You can download the D.Phil. in PDF Format