ABSTRACT

There is general agreement that young children are capable of accessing mathematical ideas and should be given the opportunity to do so in their early childhood educational settings. However, existing research has established a range of challenges for early childhood mathematics education; in particular, related to educators’ confidence and competence in teaching mathematics. This article presents data from a national survey to address the research question: What are the mathematics education beliefs and practices of Under 3s educators in Australia? Findings from a sample of 195 respondents currently working in an Under 3s educational setting are reported in relation to three themes: 1. Educators’ understandings and self-understandings; 2. Educators’ skills and capabilities; and 3. Educators’ values and norms. In contrast to existing research that indicates low self-efficacy in mathematics among early childhood educators, this sample of Australian educators report positive self-understandings in relation to mathematics. They report high levels of comfort in their mathematics education practice, and appear to be perceptive of the range of mathematical ideas with which babies and toddlers engage. Moreover, educators appear to be comfortable in gaining ideas from babies and toddlers, which is an important practice contributing towards meaningful mathematics education for these young children.

摘要

人们普遍同意，幼儿有能力运用数学思想，应在其幼儿教育环境中给予机会。但是，现有研究已经为幼儿数学教育提出了一系列挑战。特别是与教育者对数学教学的信心和能力有关。本文介绍了一项针对以下研究问题的全国调查得出的数据：澳大利亚Under 3s教育者的数学教育信念和实践是什么？报告了从195位当前在3岁以下教育环境中工作的受访者中得出的以下三个主题的调查结果：1.教育者的理解和自我理解；2.教育者的技能和能力；3.教育者的价值观和规范。与现有的研究表明幼儿教育者的数学自我效能低下的现有研究相反，本澳大利亚教育者样本对数学具有积极的自我理解。他们在数学教育实践中表现出很高的舒适度，并且似乎对婴幼儿所从事的一系列数学观念具有感知力。此外，教育者似乎很乐于从婴幼儿那里学到点子，这是有助于对这些幼儿进行有意义的数学教育的重要实践。并且似乎可以理解婴儿和幼儿所从事的数学思想的范围。此外，教育者似乎很乐于从婴幼儿那里学到点子，这是有助于对这些幼儿进行有意义的数学教育的重要实践。并且似乎可以理解婴儿和幼儿所从事的数学思想的范围。此外，教育者似乎很乐于从婴幼儿那里学到点子，这是有助于对这些幼儿进行有意义的数学教育的重要实践。