An exploration of primary teachers' understanding of maths anxiety and their perceptions of a training and coaching intervention designed to increase their understanding of maths anxiety and confidence in supporting children with maths anxiety

Abstract

The causes, prevalence, and negative impact of mathematics anxiety (MA) on children and young people’s (CYP’s) mathematics learning, performance, attitude, and mental health have been well investigated (Ganley et al., 2021; Namkung et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2019). Furthermore, it has been suggested that MA develops due to students' prior negative experiences learning mathematics in the classroom and that teachers play significant roles in forming CYP's MA. Therefore, improving teachers' understanding of MA and increasing their confidence in supporting CYP with MA would be the first step to reducing CYP's MA. This study investigates primary teachers' understanding of MA, how they support children with MA, and the factors they believe impact their support for these children. Establishing this guides the design of an intervention combining training and coaching, aiming to deepen primary teachers’ understanding of MA and increase their confidence in supporting children with MA. The responses to the intervention are evaluated to establish whether this is a practical way for EPs to support teachers in reducing CYP’s MA. In Phase 1, semi-structured interviews with eleven primary school teachers were analysed via reflexive thematic analysis. This information was used to design the training and coaching content for Phase 2. In Phase 2, training was delivered to groups of primary teachers in-person and online, followed by four sessions of coaching. To evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention, feedback was sought from the participants via questionnaires, coaching notes, and recordings of coaching review sessions. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data, and reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. Phase 1 findings were that awareness and understanding of MA were low and incomplete in these primary teachers. Phase 2 findings indicate that the intervention combining training and coaching deepened their understanding of MA, increased their confidence in supporting children with MA, and enabled them to apply strategies in their practice. The findings suggest that this intervention is a feasible and valuable tool for EPs to support primary teachers in supporting children with MA.