An exploration of mathematics classroom culture in selected early grade mathematics classrooms in Malawi

Abstract: The importance of a numerate person in the development of a country cannot be overemphasized. Literature from Malawi however reveals consistent poor achievement of learners in mathematics. Much as there are many factors that affect the achievement of learners in Mathematics, the issue which I investigated in this study was the type of classroom culture that currently exists in early grade mathematics classrooms in Malawi. I situated the problem in current theories of children’s mathematics learning, specifically, to search for signs of learning (and of teaching) that are coherent with current theory of learning. I thus do not only describe the classrooms, but do so with a specific orientation to mathematics learning with reference to children’s number concept development, arguing that foundations for mathematics are laid in the early grades. With that, I investigated what I argue appears to be a cemented, ritualistic culture of mathematics classrooms, which may be one of the obstacles in the way of enculturation into mathematical thinking of young learners. The study aimed at providing a detailed (“thick”) description of the culture of selected standard 1 (In Malawi, standard is used for grade) mathematics classrooms in five primary schools in Malawi at three different points in the school year. Specifically, the objectives of the study are: to find out what constitutes the culture of standard 1 mathematics classrooms in the sampled schools; to explore possible enablers of learning as well as possible challenges to learning, related to the routines and the patterns of activity in the classrooms and also the bigger community of the schools and to explore the utility of cultural historical and activity theory (CHAT) as an educational-anthropological lens for the current study. This study employed a qualitative research design with case study approach that was informed by ethnographic stance as an orientation tool to data collection and analysis, yielding a thick description of the culture of early grade mathematics classrooms. Learners from standard 1, numeracy and mathematics teachers for standard 1 and head teachers (principals) from five primary schools in Zomba City, Malawi, constituted the sample. Data were mainly collected through naturalistic observation, as such the main data collection instrument in this study was the researcher himself. Qualitative content analysis: a tool for reduced, condensed and...D.Phil.(Childhood Education