New insights into the beliefs of secondary pre-service teachers about mathematics

Vesife Hatisaru; Olivia Johnston; Julia Collins; Benjamin Rott

doi:10.29333/ejmste/16656

Full Text (PDF)

Vesife Hatisaru ¹ ² , Olivia Johnston ¹ , Julia Collins ¹ , Benjamin Rott ³ ^*

More Detail

¹ Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, AUSTRALIA ² University of Tasmania, Launceston, TASMANIA³ University of Cologne, Cologne, GERMANY^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Teachers’ beliefs about mathematics can shape how they approach teaching, learning, and assessment in mathematics classrooms. This study examined Australian pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) epistemological beliefs about mathematics. A total of 18 PSTs enrolled in Bachelor of Education and Master of Teaching (secondary mathematics) programs participated in the study by answering prompt questions in an open-ended questionnaire. The participants’ responses were content analyzed by categorizing the views evident in the responses into four pre-defined mathematical orientations: formalism-related, scheme-related, process-related, and application-related. Findings have shown that the dominant beliefs for the participants reflected process- or application- related orientations to mathematics. These findings are of value to PST educators who seek to explore and expand the beliefs that future teachers hold about the nature and structure of mathematics.

Keywords

beliefs
epistemological beliefs
mathematics teaching and learning
pre-service teachers
secondary mathematics

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 21, Issue 8, August 2025, Article No: em2675

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/16656

Publication date: 01 Aug 2025

Online publication date: 28 Jul 2025

Article Views: 59

Article Downloads: 23

Open Access References How to cite this article

References

AAMT. (2006). Standards for excellence in teaching mathematics in Australian schools. The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers.
ACARA. (2022). Australian curriculum: Mathematics (F-10 version 9). About the learning area. Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority.
An, S., Kulm, G., Wu, Z., Ma, F., & Wang, L. (2006). The impact of cultural differences on middle school mathematics teachers’ beliefs in the U.S. and China. In F. K. S. Leung, K. D. Graf, & F. J. Lopez-Real (Eds.), Mathematics education in different cultural traditions: A comparative study of East Asia and the West (pp. 449-465). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-29723-5_27
Auslander, S. S., Hart, L. C., Carothers, J., Jacobs, T., & Chestnutt, C. (2019). University mathematics content courses and elementary prospective teachers: A review of research from 1990 to 2014. Action in Teacher Education, 41(1), 23-42. https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2018.1533902
Berk, D., & Cai, J. (2019). Teacher beliefs, mathematics. In M. Peters (Ed.), Encyclopedia of teacher education (pp 1-6). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_236-1
Beswick, K. (2006). Changes in preservice teachers’ attitudes and beliefs: The net impact of two mathematics education units and intervening experiences. School Science and Mathematics, 106(1), Article 36. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1949-8594.2006.tb18069.x
Beswick, K. (2007). Teachers’ beliefs that matter in secondary mathematics classrooms. Educational Studies of Mathematics, 65, 95-120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-006-9035-3
Beswick, K. (2012). Teachers’ beliefs about school mathematics and mathematicians’ mathematics and their relationship to practice. Educational Studies of Mathematics, 79, 127-147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-011-9333-2
Beswick, K., Wright, S., Watson, J., Hay, I., Allen, J., & Cranston, N. (2019). Teachers’ beliefs related to secondary school completion: Associations with socio-educational advantage and school level. The Australian Educational Researcher, 46, 751-774. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00317-3
Conner, A., & Gomez, C.N. (2019). Belief structure as explanation for resistance to change: The case of Robin. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 53, 196-209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2018.08.003
Ernest, P. (1989). The knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of the mathematics teacher: A model. Journal of Education for Teaching, 15(1), 13-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/0260747890150102
Ernest, P. (2015). The social outcomes of learning mathematics: Standard, unintended or visionary? International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 3(3), 187-192. https://doi.org/10.18404/ijemst.29471
Evans, B. R., Leonard, J., Krier, K., & Ryan, S. (2013). The influence of a reform-based mathematic methods course on preservice teachers’ beliefs. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 3(1), 79-92.
Felbrich, A., Müller, C., & Blömeke, S. (2008). Epistemological beliefs concerning the nature of mathematics among teacher educators and teacher education students in mathematics. ZDM, 40(5), 763-776. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-008-0153-5
Fennema, E., & Franke, M. L. (1992). Teachers’ knowledge and its impact. In D. A. Grouws (Ed.), Handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 147-164). Macmillan.
Furinghetti, F., & Pehkonen, E. (2002). Rethinking characterizations of beliefs. In G. C. Leder, E. Pehkonen, & G. Törner (Eds.), Beliefs: A hidden variable in mathematics education? (pp. 39-57). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47958-3_3
Grigutsch, S., Raatz, U., & Törner, G. (1998). Einstellungen gegenüber mathematik bei mathematiklehrern [Attitudes towards mathematics among mathematics teachers]. Journal für Mathematik-Didaktik, 19(1), 3-45. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03338859
Hammarberg, K., Kirkman, M., & Lacey, S. (2016). Qualitative research methods: When to use them and how to judge them. Human Reproduction, 31(3), 498-501. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dev334
Hashweh, M. Z. (1996). Effects of science teachers’ epistemological beliefs in teaching. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33(1), 47-63. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199601)33:1<47::AID-TEA3>3.0.CO;2-P
Hatisaru, V. (2018). Teachers’ beliefs about knowledge of teaching and their impact on teaching practices. In B. Rott, G. Torner, J. Peters-Dasdemir, A. Moller, & Safrudiannur (Eds.), Views and beliefs in mathematics education: The role of beliefs in the classroom (pp. 149-159). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01273-1_14
Hatisaru, V. (2020). Perceived need for mathematics among lower secondary students. Australian Mathematics Education Journal, 2(1), 9-14.
Hatisaru, V. (2023). O conhecimento do professor e as respetivas fontes: Perceções de professores de matemática do ensino básico e secundário [Teacher knowledge and its sources: Perceptions of lower secondary teachers of mathematics]. Quadrante, 32(2), 77-105. https://doi.org/10.48489/quadrante.31130
Hatisaru, V. (2024). Non-specialist secondary mathematics teachers learning in study groups by engaging with activities of algebra. Journal on Mathematics Education, 15(1), 131-150. https://doi.org/10.22342/jme.v15i1.pp131-150
Hatisaru, V., & Collins, J. (2023). Preservice secondary mathematics teachers’ perceptions of teacher knowledge and its sources. In B. Reid-O’Connor, E. Prieto-Rodriguez, K. Holmes, & A. Hughes (Eds.), Proceedings of the 45^th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (pp. 251-258). MERGA.
Hatisaru, V., & Murphy, C. (2019). ‘Creature’ teachers ‘monster’ mathematicians: Students’ views about mathematicians and their stated attitudes to mathematics. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 7(3), 215-221. https://doi.org/10.31129/LUMAT.7.2.355
Herppich, S., & Wittwer, J. (2018). Preservice teachers’ beliefs about students’ mathematical knowledge structure as a foundation for formative assessments. Teaching and Teacher Education, 76, 242-254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.06.011
Ingram, N., Hatisaru, V., Grootenboer, P., & Beswick, K. (2020). Researching the affective domain in mathematics education. In J. Way, C. Attard, J. Anderson, J. Bobis, H. McMaster, & K. Cartwright (Eds.), Research in mathematics education in Australasia 2016-2019 (pp. 147-175). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4269-5_7
Itter, D., & Meyers, N. (2017). Fear, loathing and ambivalence toward learning and teaching mathematics: Preservice teachers’ perspectives. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 19(2), 123-141.
James, R., Krause, K.-L., & Jennings, C. (2010). The first-year experience in Australian universities: Findings from 1994 to 2009. Center for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne. http://www.improvingthestudentexperience.com/library/UG_documents/FYE_Report_1994_to_2009.pdf
Jao, L. (2017). Shifting pre-service teachers’ beliefs about mathematics teaching: The contextual situation of a mathematics methods course. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 15, 895-914. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-016-9719-9
Leder, G. C., Pehkonen, E., & Törner, G. (2005). Beliefs: A hidden variable in mathematics education? (vol. 31). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47958-3
Lowrie, T., & Jorgensen, R. (2016). Pre-service teachers’ mathematics content knowledge: Implications for how mathematics is taught in higher education. Teaching Mathematics and its Applications: An International Journal of the IMA, 35(4), 202-215. https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrv008
Maasepp, B., & Bobis, J. (2015). Prospective primary teachers’ beliefs about mathematics. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 16(2), 89-107.
Manderfeld, K. A.-M., & Siller, H.-S. (2019). Pre-Service mathematics teachers’ beliefs regarding topics of mathematics education. LUMAT: International Journal on Math, Science and Technology Education, 7(2), 65-79. https://doi.org/10.31129/LUMAT.7.2.332
NCTM. (2014). Principles to actions: Ensuring mathematical success for all. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc.
Pajares, M. F. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62(3), 307-332. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543062003307
Perry, B., Wong, N. Y., & Howard, P. (2006). Comparing primary and secondary mathematics teachers’ beliefs about mathematics, mathematics learning and mathematics teaching in Hong Kong and Australia. In K. D. Graf, F. K. S. Leung, & F. Lopez-Real (Eds.), Mathematics education in different cultural traditions: A comparative study of East Asia and the West (pp. 435-448). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-29723-5_26
Philipp, R. A. (2007). Mathematics teachers’ beliefs and affect. In F. Lester (Ed.), Second handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 257-315).
Rott, B. (2020). Teachers’ behaviors, epistemological beliefs, and their interplay in lessons on the topic of problem solving. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 18(5), 903-924. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-019-09993-0
Safrudiannur, Labulan, P. M., Suriaty, Ngilawajan, D. A., Cahyono, A. N., Putra, Z. H., Pagiling, S. L., & Rott, B. (2023). Pre-service mathematics teachers’ beliefs: A quantitative study to investigate the complex relationships in their beliefs. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 54(8), 1420-1436. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2023.2170289
Sam, L. C., & Ernest, P. (2000). A survey of public images of mathematics. Research in Mathematics Education, 2(1), 193-206. https://doi.org/10.1080/14794800008520076
Schoen, R. C., & LaVenia, M. (2019). Teacher beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning: Identifying and clarifying three constructs. Cogent Education, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2019.1599488
Shava, G. & Hleza, S. & Tlou, F.& Shonhiwa, S., & Mathonsi, E. (2021). Qualitative content analysis, utility, usability and processes in educational research. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Sciences, 5(7), 553-558.
Stephenson, J. (2018). A systematic review of the research on the knowledge and skills of Australian preservice teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 43(4). https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2018v43n4.7
Stipek, D. J., Givvin, K. B., Salmon, J. M., & MacGyvers, V. L. (2001). Teachers’ beliefs and practices related to mathematics instruction. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(2), 213-226. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(00)00052-4
Törner, G. (2002). Mathematical beliefs–A search for a common ground: Some theoretical considerations on structuring beliefs, some research questions, and some phenomenological observations. In G. C. Leder, E. Pehkonen, & G. Törner (Eds.), Beliefs: A hidden variable in mathematics education? (pp. 73-94). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47958-3_5
Viholainen, A., Asikainen, M., & Hirvonen, P. (2014). Mathematics student teachers’ epistemological beliefs about the nature of mathematics and the goals of mathematics teaching and learning in the beginning of their studies. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 10(2), 159-171. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2014.1028a
Wallen, N. E., & Fraenkel, J. R. (2011). Educational research: A guide to the process (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis e-Library.
White, A. L., Way, J., Perry, B., & Southwell, B. (2005). Mathematical attitudes, beliefs and achievement in primary pre-service mathematics teacher education. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 7, 33-52.
Wilkins, J. L. M. (2008). The relationship among elementary teachers’ content knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 11(2), 139-164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-007-9068-2
Woltron, F. (2024). Prospective teachers’ mathematical world views and beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning goals. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2024.2427833
Xie, S., & Cai, J. (2021). Teachers’ beliefs about mathematics, learning, teaching, students, and teachers: Perspectives from Chinese high school in-service mathematics teachers. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 19(4), 747-769. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-020-10074-w
Yang, X., Kaiser, G., König, J., & Blömeke, S. (2020). Relationship between pre-service mathematics teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and instructional practices in China. ZDM Mathematics Education, 52, 281-294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-020-01145-x

How to cite this article

APA

Hatisaru, V., Johnston, O., Collins, J., & Rott, B. (2025). New insights into the beliefs of secondary pre-service teachers about mathematics. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 21(8), em2675. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/16656

Vancouver

Hatisaru V, Johnston O, Collins J, Rott B. New insights into the beliefs of secondary pre-service teachers about mathematics. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2025;21(8):em2675. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/16656

AMA

Hatisaru V, Johnston O, Collins J, Rott B. New insights into the beliefs of secondary pre-service teachers about mathematics. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2025;21(8), em2675. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/16656

Chicago

Hatisaru, Vesife, Olivia Johnston, Julia Collins, and Benjamin Rott. "New insights into the beliefs of secondary pre-service teachers about mathematics". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2025 21 no. 8 (2025): em2675. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/16656

Harvard

Hatisaru, V., Johnston, O., Collins, J., and Rott, B. (2025). New insights into the beliefs of secondary pre-service teachers about mathematics. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 21(8), em2675. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/16656

MLA

Hatisaru, Vesife et al. "New insights into the beliefs of secondary pre-service teachers about mathematics". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 21, no. 8, 2025, em2675. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/16656