Examining the Views of Class Teachers on Mathematics Teaching: A Phenomenological Study

Özet

As the ability to gain behaviors related to mathematics forms the basis for applying mathematics, the role of mathematics is gradually increasing. It is known that gaining these behaviors continues from pre-school education to all levels of higher education, thus the increase in the importance of mathematics increases the importance of mathematics teaching. With the foundation of the mathematics laid in elementary school, there are tasks for class teachers to make students truly love mathematics and help them understand it. For this reason, in this study, it is aimed to determine classroom teachers' views on teaching mathematics. This study, in which phenomenological pattern is used, has been realized with the participation of class teachers working in the schools affiliated to Erzurum province center. The data of the study which was carried out with a total of five teachers were collected with semi-structured interviews and analyzed descriptively. Each of the interviewed teachers stated that they felt math anxiety at some stage of their education life and that it was teacher-based. In addition, classroom teachers, who have emphasized that primary school students should learn in a concrete way and mostly by doing and experiencing, have mentioned that these possibilities are inadequate in village schools. They also pointed out that the family support is lacking and that the curriculum is noteworthy for students and families living in the city center, but that this is rarely achieved in village schools. The class teachers, who indicated that the mathematics courses they had attended during their undergraduate education were appropriate in theory but insufficient for implementation, have suggested that mathematics instruction courses should be more productive.