Opportunities for the development of understanding in Grade 8 mathematics classrooms

[摘要] Learner performance in South Africa is poor in comparison with other countries asa result of poor teaching. At the core of the concern about learners' performance inmathematics in South Africa lies a controversy regarding how mathematics shouldbe taught. The purpose of this study was to explore Grade 8 mathematics teachers'creation and utilisation of opportunities for learners to develop mathematicalunderstanding in their classrooms. To accomplish this, an explorative case studywas conducted to explore three mathematics teachers' instructional practices byusing Schoenfeld et al.'s (2014) five dimensions of Teaching for the RobustUnderstanding of Mathematics (TRU Math) scheme, namely, the mathematics,cognitive demand, access to mathematical content, mathematical agency, authorityand identity and uses of assessment. The three participants were convenientlyselected from three private schools in Mpumalanga. The data collected consist of adocument analysis, two lessons observations and a post-observation interview perteacher.This study revealed that only one of the three teachers applied all Schoenfeld etal.'s (2014) TRU Math dimensions. The dimension identified which the teachersapplied most in their classrooms was the mathematics. The dimensions identifiedwhere teachers still lack skills were cognitive demand, access to mathematicalcontent, agency, authority and identity, and uses of assessment. This studyrevealed that the content of most tasks and lessons was focused and coherent, andbuilt meaningful connections. However, the content did not engage learners inimportant mathematical content or provided opportunities for learners to apply thecontent to solve real-life problems. Due to the small sample used, the results fromthis study cannot be generalised. However, I hope that the findings will contributeto student-teacher training and in-service teacher training in both government andprivate schools. Future research could possibly build on this study by examiningthe learners and how they learn with understanding by using the TRU Mathdimensions.

[发布机构] University of Pretoria