En studie i grundskoleelevers inställning till matematikämnet ur ett lärarperspektiv

Abstract The purpose of this essay is to investigate if elementary school pupils’ attitudes towards mathematics, from a teacher’s perspective, have changed since 2001-2002. I also intend to investigate if the whys and wherefores among the pupils attitude are the same and what influences pupils’ attitude to mathematics. The reason why I chose to deepen myself into elementary school pupils’ attitude to mathematics, and things that relate, is that I find it very interesting. As I shall soon be an upper school mathematics teacher I hope to discover some crucial factors for making mathematics learning an inspiring adventure. To collect materials for this study I interviewed six teachers living in the midst of Sweden. To create a picture of elementary school pupils’ attitude to mathematics I interviewed two teachers from each lower, intermediary and upper school. The study shows that the teachers I interviewed have observed an attitude towards mathematics similar to the trend for the whole country. A higher level of abstraction and increasing difficulties to diversify teaching is said to be the reason. The study also shows that variation and the need to succeed are two important factors that affect pupils’ relation to mathematics. It is however, hard to make any generalization from my study, as it is too small. Key words: attitudes, mathematics, pupils, crucial factor