Teachers- Belief in Mathematics Teaching: A Case Study of Early Childhood Education Teachers
Mery Noviyanti
Universitas Terbuka
Abstract
The background of this research is the pros and cons of whether early childhood may learn to read, write and count, which has been a talk in the community. This certainly creates confusion, especially for teachers of Early Childhood Education (ECE), to explore mathematics in the classroom. This article aims to conduct an analysis of teachers- belief in mathematics teaching. Furthermore, this article will be used as a reference for professional development program that the researcher is going to develop. This research is a case study with five respondents in a city in West Java, Indonesia. Semi-structured interviews towards five respondents were conducted using an interview guideline that refers to the instrument The Mathematical Development Beliefs Survey (MDBS). The thematic analysis was used for data processing in this research. The result of the research revealed all respondents agreed that mathematics is a substantial part of ECE curriculum and contributes to the confidence of the students. All respondents agreed that mathematics development activities could be carried out, and early childhood is ready for mathematics. However, they are unsure and less confident in teaching mathematics and basic math knowledge. For this reason, this research suggests that professional programs or interventions given should aim to boost teachers- belief in teaching mathematics and improve their knowledge of mathematics.
Keywords: Teachers- belief, mathematics, early childhood education
Topic: Mathematics Education