Examining Turkish Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Beliefs about the Nature and the Teaching of Mathematics

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate Turkish preservice elementary teachers’ beliefs about the nature and the teaching of mathematics. The participants of the study consist of 96 preservice elementary teachers from a department of primary education in a state university in Turkey during the 2010-2011 spring term. Beliefs about Teaching Mathematics Scale and Beliefs about Nature of Mathematics Scale were used as the measuring instruments. The results of this study were: a) the preservice elementary teachers’ scores on about the nature and the teaching of mathematics (child-centredness) were high in general, b) statistically; there exist significant correlation between the beliefs about nature and teaching of mathematics. As a result, some recommendations concerning the situation and future research were suggested.