Participation in Teaching and Learning Mathematics - Literature review Example

Arguments have been put forth throughout history concerning disparities in gender learning and teaching of mathematics. Many scholars have written articles on the issue of gender in relation to teaching and learning mathematics. These articles illustrate different views on gender aspects involved in mathematics education. This paper therefore deals with a literature review on classroom dynamics as far as gender differentials are concerned. This paper therefore expounds on views, assumptions in relation to gender differentials in mathematics teaching and learning. (Becker, 1994l, p. 112) This includes aspects of disenfranchisement of the female gender in overall learning of mathematics subject. The information in this paper is centralised on the aspects of gender in mathematics learning and teaching in Australia. Various scholars have expressed their views on issues relating disparities in of achievement in mathematics among boys and girls. According to research that is contemporary based, scholars show the intricacy n disparities of gender evident in mathematics teaching and learning. This research reveals that earlier years of seventies showed that the bigger differences in girls’ and boys performances in mathematics were linked to disparities in genetics and other biological compositions. (Becker, 1994l, p. 90) This school of thought claimed that girls were naturally poor in mathematics as compared to their male counterparts. As time went by, scholars asserted that the gender inequalities in learning and teaching of mathematics were highly related to behavioural differences rather than genetics. Behavioural differences among boys and girls were considered to influence differences in their participation and teaching of mathematics. (Belenky and Goldberger, 1986, p. 56) The twentieth century has had many researchers’ asserting that the differences in mathematics education as far as teaching and learning is concerned were highly related to environmental factors. This means that the cultural environment where students are oriented either at home, school or entire community influences their participation in learning and teaching of the subject. In this case, the views of stakeholders in the environment play an imperative role in mathematics education among the two sexes. One thing that is however common in all these views is the fact there is a difference between male and female participation in learning and teaching of mathematics. Research shows that throughout history, there have been disparities on gender and learning of mathematics. Many scholars have concurred that majority of best performers in mathematics subject have been boys. According to an analysis carried out in Australian schools, girls tended to shy away from mathematics while in secondary schools. Major gender differences in learning mathematics are highly evident once students reach their adolescent stage. These differences become pronounced at this stage because students start facing very complex mathematical problems. At this stage, their clearly show their dislike and likes. (Becker, 1994l, p. 102) A comparison done on level of mathematics performance among girls and boys in Australian secondary schools showed that boys performed far much better than their female counterparts. This was more so in late sixties and early seventies. Once the students reached secondary schools, majority of the girls complained that mathematics became more complex. (Belenky and Goldberger, 1986, p. 50) It was noted that as they progress to secondary schools understanding becomes a core value if they have to pass the subject. The failure to understand among girls makes majority of them to perform dismally. Boys tended to perform better because they were made to believe that the subject was not hard for them. Research carried out by Brown and Borko (1992) in secondary schools reveals that many girls concurred that given an option, they would do away with learning mathematics. Teachers coincided that many girls lost concentration during mathematics lessons as compared to their male counterparts. (Brown and Borko 1992, p. 130) This was normally characterised by students dozing. In schools where there was freedom, students simply opted not to attend mathematics lessons. Some scholars have argued that the aspect of gender intertwines with various factors that affected the disparities in learning mathematics subject. These factors include ethnicity and socioeconomic status among students. Student participation during mathematics lessons also revealed another area where differences in gender learning mathematics were exhibited. Male students showed a lot of enthusiasm and answered many questions as compared to female. It was also noted that male students showed a lot of confidence when asked to attempt a sum. On the other hand, female students feared to attempt thinking that they might end up having wrong answers. (Brown and Borko 1992, p. 126) So why were there differences in the learning of mathematics among males and females? One of the factors that were noted to be a major contributor was in relation to believes. These are normally instituted as children grow up. Majority of parents encouraged their boys to work harder in mathematics. Parents did not tolerate failure in mathematics among their male children. They were however very reluctant to encourage the girls to pass mathematics. They also believed that girls do not have as much potential as boys. This of course is not true. This shows that pessimistic or positive believes about gender and learning mathematics are instilled in children when they are still very young. The society at large did also contribute a great deal to these believes. (Cuevas and Driscoll 1993, p. 55) Scholars have asserted that teachers are not exempted in this issue. Some teachers make negative statements about participation of female students in mathematics. These views are absorbed in the student’s mind at a very tender age. It is quite evident that many girls in Australia believe that science and mathematics are masculine subjects as compared to language subjects, history social studies which are regarded as feminine. They therefore form an attitude about learning mathematics that is either positive or negative. (Cuevas and Driscoll 1993, p. 50) This has resulted in a situation where girls do not attach so much value on mathematics and its related subjects. This also affects their desire for careers. They tend to shy away from careers that demand proficiency in mathematics subjects. This includes careers such as engineering, medicine and architecture among others. This is evident when students in secondary schools are choosing courses that they desire to pursue in universities and colleges. (Cuevas and Driscoll 1993, p. 40) Girls in secondary schools tend to carry out research on minimum entry requirements for pursuing various careers. One they know the minimum marks that they are required to score in mathematics, they just work towards that. This affects their learning and attention in class. This clearly explains the gender disparities in learning mathematics in secondary schools. . All this starts at a very tender age. This is because they choose various topics that they will handle in their examinations and rule out others as not very important. This makes them to lose concentration during mathematics lessons since they are contented with what they know. Their goal is not to excel in the subject but to have minimal entry marks required for their set goals. Researchers concur that it is not easy to change such a mindset once students are in secondary schools. This brings in the issue of gender in relation to teaching mathematics. Researchers strongly argue that perceptions and theories held by teachers influence the way they teach and even act in the classrooms. This aspect therefore contributes a great deal on classroom dynamics. It was noted by various authors that principles, beliefs and values of an individual influence his or her behaviour. This means that behaviour that teachers exhibit in class emanates from their own believes which are gender based. (Fennema and Leder1990, p. 24) Manning (1998) in his article asserts that teachers’ believes make them exhibit different classroom behaviour towards male and female students. A very good example is whereby majority of mathematics teachers in secondary schools were noted to praise boys more whenever they excelled as compared to girls. When they failed they were highly scolded as compared to girls who scored the same marks. (Manning, 1998, p. 90) Mathematics teachers were also noted to be calling on boys more to answer questions as compared to girls. This was more so when the questions were more complicated. They tended to give fewer chances to girls to answer questions and this was common when questions were very simple. This clearly indicates that they have certain believes and perceptions about girl’s performance in mathematics. (Manning, 1998, p. 90) The effects of teacher behaviour on students’ performance in mathematics have not been ascertained and remain quite unclear. Some authors clearly illustrate that there is no substantiation that teacher behaviour contributes a certain percentage to the disparities in among girls and boys as far as learning mathematics is concerned. Other authors however argue that teacher behaviour such as favouring boys usually gives them a higher competitive edge as regards to learning and comprehending mathematics. This therefore spills over to their overall performance. (Fennema and Leder 1990, p. 34) One aspect that is interesting to note is that female mathematics teachers also exhibit less confidence when teaching mathematics as compared to their male counterparts. Female teachers were noted to concur that they were not proficient in certain mathematics topics. This analysis was carried out in thirty secondary schools that have female mathematics teachers. This was highly evident when students approached female teachers for help in certain topics. In most cases students had a specific mathematics problem that they wanted the teachers to tackle. Ninety two percent of the female teachers asked for more time to research or referred the students to male teachers for help. This shows the inequalities evident in female and male teachers’ confidence when teaching mathematics subject. Majority of female mathematics teachers still consider mathematics to be a domain for the male gender. Research carried out by Manning (1998) showed that eighty six percent of female mathematics teachers held this view. (Manning, 1998, p. 87) Fourteen percent of them said that mathematics was a domain that was quite neutral in nature. According to this research, teachers who believed that mathematics was a masculine related subject had fewer female students excelling in their class as compared to the male students. (Walberg and Haertel, 1992, p. 18) A higher performance was witnessed among girl students in cases where their teacher believed that mathematics was a domain that was neutral in nature and both sexes had equal opportunities in excelling. This shows the way teachers can influence gender disparities or equalities in learning mathematics. (Sanders, 1994, p. 79) They believe that the genetic make up of men gives them an upper hand in solving and understanding mathematical problems. This issue normally spills over to the perception that students have towards female and male teachers. It was noted that students were more attentive when taught mathematics by male teachers as compared to when mathematics lessons were taught by their female counterparts. (Walberg and Haertel, 1992, p. 16) This behaviour on the other hand works negatively in regard to girls’ believes and overall perceptions about performance in mathematics. Majority of mathematics teachers and lecturers are male. This also has an effect on students and their desires in terms of career choice later in life. Students in secondary schools tend to borrow a lot of perceptions about careers from what they see and what they hear from their teachers. (Walberg and Haertel, 1992, p. 12) Further analysis on this topic shows that the twenty first century has seen the disparity in gender learning and teaching mathematics continues to narrow up. This has been affected by change in teaching strategies. Many mathematics teachers have incorporated the concept of allowing girls and boys to discuss mathematics problems. When this is implemented, girls’ performances in the subject tend to improve with time. (Manning, 1998, p. 90) Teaching mathematics subject by the use of discussion method spurs interest among female students unlike when a one man show style is used. This is also referred to as the traditional style. On the other hand, boys were less likely to have discussions when left on their own to solve mathematical problems. This shows that methods of teaching mathematics also influence performance and even the degree of understanding. Sanders (1994) concur that the way of instruction used in teaching mathematics has gender implications in terms of understanding. In this case, they elaborate that the way of instruction has to do with context and content. This research revealed that female friendly instruction helps female students to understand mathematics subject more. (Sanders, 1994, p. 89) Various scholars have argued on the need of offering specialised instruction models for teaching mathematics to female students. In this case, it has been explained that female friendly instruction is whereby there is minimal competition and more of co-operation in the classrooms. All these views try to put across the view that male and female students have different ways of learning mathematics. While researchers have found disparities in teaching and learning mathematics among boys and girls, it is very easy to assume that solutions have been found. It has been noted that the issues of disparities in teaching and learning mathematics have various complexities that are associated with them. (Sanders, 1994, p. 80) One of the factors that were noted was that the degree of participation in mathematics careers by females was still low. It was expected that female teachers would help in bridging the gap in teaching the subject. However, the ratio of female to male mathematics teachers is still very small. This is as a result of female students choosing careers that are not related to mathematics. This has been affected by the trend seen in remuneration packages in science, mathematics related careers as compared to other professions. Female students argue that there is no need of doing ‘hard things’ in careers like medicine and engineering when one can do simpler things and still earn good salary package. According to Manning (1998) the degree of female participation in careers related to mathematics is still very small. The issue of differences in gender learning mathematics is quite apparent. It was however noted that these differences have continued to diminish in the twenty first century. This has emanated form the fact that various stakeholders have put in place strategies to bridge the gap. (Manning, 1998, p. 90) This was after noting that disparities in gender performances in maths are not biological but more of socio-cultural based. Authors recommended that teachers need to develop strategies where they motivate girls to have the interest in mathematics. In this case, they recommended that girls need to be made to discard stereotypical ideas that females are not good in mathematics. (Walberg and Haertel, 1992, p. 18) They should however be enlightened to believe that they can perform as good as male students or even better. This can be carried out by educating parents on the need to motivate their children while still at a very tender age on their potential in the subject. Teachers also need to be very keen on comments that they make while in class concerning performance of male and female students. Various scholars recommend school administrators to ensure that students have motivational talks and career talks on gender and participation in learning mathematics. (Cuevas and Driscoll 1993, p. 40) School administrators should analyse any loopholes that are gender based when students are making career choices. This is as far as school policies rules and regulations are concerned. This needs to be carried out both in male and female schools. This in the long run will help to solve the problem where the society thinks that mathematics is a masculine related domain. (Walberg and Haertel, 1992, p. 19) Researchers recommend that teachers need to ensure that the books they use and avail to students do not show bias in gender participation in teaching and learning mathematics. This also includes all books, magazines and newspapers available for students to read in the library. This will help in solving the problem of misperceptions on mathematics education and gender. (Cuevas and Driscoll 1993, p. 40) Walberg and Haertel (1992) in their article assert that teachers need to watch out their classroom practices to ensure that they are not enhancing disparities in gender participation during mathematics lessons. This includes activities such as grouping students by sex. (Walberg and Haertel, 1992, p. 12) It was noted by various authors that some teachers were going to the extent of naming the groups such as the girls’ group being named English and the boys’ maths. This usually sends across a wrong notion that boys are far much better than girls in mathematics. Teachers also need to ensure that their language during mathematics and even other lessons is gender free. (Cuevas and Driscoll 1993, p. 40) As earlier on illustrated, wide gaps in gender participation in learning and teaching were quite evident in earlier years. As time went by, various stakeholders came in to improve the situation. The government also intervened by putting in place policies that enhance gender equity in learning and teaching mathematics and education in general. The government ensured that training programs for teachers were more intensive and gender issues in teaching and learning were well explained. (Manning, 1998, p. 90) Various programs were also put in place to promote gender equity in pursuing of science and mathematics in schools, universities and colleges. As time went by, classrooms environments that are single sex in nature were encouraged. This is because such environments enabled girls to widen their career paths even to mathematics oriented professions. This environment enabled girls to believe that they can excel in mathematics as they saw their female colleagues score higher grades. This environment therefore enabled female and male students to be role models to their colleagues of their sex type. The issue of structuring classroom environments to single sex enabled teachers to structure their mathematics lessons to suit the overall needs of students. For instance, mathematics teachers in girl schools have structured their lessons to have more of nature and animation features. (Manning, 1998, p. 90) Group discussions are highly utilised unlike mathematics lessons in boys’ schools that have a traditional way of structure. This is whereby discussions are not incorporated and there are tests where students attempt within a set time limit. Competition in this case is the epitome of this type of mathematic teaching structure. This is carried out because research revealed differences in the way boys and girls prefer to learn mathematics subject. (Walberg and Haertel, 1992, p. 14) Current research carried out in the nation shows that there is evidence of improvement in gender participation in learning and teaching mathematics. This has been due to the above implemented factors. These changes have been noted in the nation for a period of approximately seven years. It has been noted that the number of girls taking mathematics related courses has improved. Various college statistics indicate that the ratio of female students enrolling in social studies, education and other occupations traditionally considered to be feminine is still far much higher. Scores in mathematics exams for female students still tend to be lower when compared to their male counterparts. In conclusion, literature review on issue of gender and participation on learning and teaching mathematics reveals diverse dynamics therein. Many authors assert that earlier years of seventies were characterised by major differences among male and female students in learning mathematics. These differences were believed to emanate from biological factors. The subject was considered to be a male domain. Later on, it was clear that environmental factors took an upper hand in this. Male students tended to comprehend the subject more than female in secondary schools. Female students preferred discussions than having tests with fixed time for them to finish. Teachers’ classroom practices also influenced the disparities in learning and teaching mathematics among girls and boys. Teachers’ comments on potential of boys and girls in mathematics influenced their performance. As time went by, various strategies were put in place. This included single sex classroom environments. This enabled teachers to structure their mathematics lessons to suit specific gender. Female students in secondary schools are also given motivational talks that encourage them to love the subject. All these interventions among others have narrowed the gap in gender participation in teaching and learning mathematics. It is however important to note that the gap still exists but is currently to a lesser magnitude. This clearly indicates that as new strategies continue to be implemented, gender equity in teaching and learning mathematics in secondary schools is not a mirage. Read More