Bourrie, Heather
An Investigation into the Effect of Educational Background and Math Anxiety on Teacher Candidates' Pedagogical Beliefs
This paper examines the potential effects of educational background and math anxiety on Teacher Candidates' (TCs') pedagogical beliefs. To investigate this relationship, I conducted a mixed-methods study. Twenty-five TCs were given a quantitative survey consisting of Likert scales to measure their math anxiety levels and their pedagogical beliefs concerning constructivism and traditionalism and an additional question inquiring about their educational experience with mathematics. Six TCs were then selected for follow-up semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using Values Coding and Focused Coding. The findings suggest that TCs draw upon personal experience when justifying beliefs, adopt flexible approaches to pedagogy, value the highly disputed Theory of Learning styles, and demonstrate that math anxiety is a motivator for constructivist beliefs. This research helps fill a gap in the literature about how educational background and math anxiety affect TCs' pedagogical beliefs and provides further insight into how TCs' beliefs are formed.
Author Keywords: Educational background, Math anxiety, Pedagogical beliefs, Pre-service teachers, Teacher Candidates, Teacher preparation programs