50 Morrison 1997 states that “teaching efficacy stems from teachers’ beliefs and
attitudes....” p. 9, as well as from influences from the community, school, and classroom’s conditions. With this in mind, this study examines early childhood teachers’
attitudes and beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning in an urban school district. It seek to answer the following five questions:
1. What are urban early childhood teachers’ general attitudes toward mathematics? 2. What are urban early childhood teachers’ views of mathematics? Do urban teachers’
views of mathematics lean more toward the: a. Platonist view—mathematics is exact and certain truth; b. Instrumental view—mathematics is facts and rules, not creative; or
c. Problem Solving view— mathematics is a problem solving approach, providing many
answers and exploring patterns versus employment of routine tasks Ernest, 1988; Ernest 1996. The NCTM endorses the problem solving approach.
3. What are urban early childhood teachers’ attitudes toward teaching mathematics? 4. What are urban early childhood teachers’ views of teaching mathematics?
a. Basic Skills Practice —basic skills vs. calculator, other emphasis
b. Problem Solving View
—problem solving aim vs. routine tasks
c. Discovery Active View — need to be told vs. canshould discover
d. Teacher Designed Curriculum —childrens needs, differences and preferences
are accommodated; one text is not followed for all abilities, the mathematics curriculum is differentiated for individual needs and differences
e. Text Driven Curriculum
-- mathematics is taught by following the text or syllabus exactly
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f. Many Methods Encouraged
—teacher’s unique method vs. many methods; or,
g. Cooperative Learning View —isolated vs. cooperative learning. Ernest 1996
5. What are urban early childhood teachers’ views of children learning mathematics?
a. Rote Learning—mathematics is remembering facts, rules, learning by rote
b. Constructivist View Previous Knowledge Respected —transmission
transference vs. building on existing knowledge
c. Role of Errors— careless errors vs. answers over emphasized.
In other words, the problem solving process is more important than getting the correct answer. The learner will receive partial credit for his “process” efforts
when he does not get the correct answer. The learner focuses on the essence of the problem while he attempts to come up with the solution. When answers are
over emphasized the learner receives no credit for his incorrect answer, or process efforts. Or,
d. Choice and Autonomy— imposed order and tasks vs. child choice centered
