5th and 8th grade pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions of the relationships between teaching methods, classroom ethos, and positive affective attitudes towards learning mathematics in Japan

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achievement or teachers’ assessment. Pupils’ general self-concept was correlated with
their mathematics self-concept and the extent to which they perceived themselves good
or poor at mathematics respectively at both grades, although the correlation was not
high (see Table 7.1.1). In the literature, global self-esteem and self-perceptions of
competence are usually correlated positively. For instance, Marsh (1990) reported a
correlation between mathematics self-concept and general self-concept of .19 for SDQ-I
and .14 for SDQ-II. Compared with these results, much higher correlations were found
among the Japanese students (see Table 7.1.1).

Table 7.1.1: Correlations between pupils’ self-concept, mathematics self-concept and
pupils’ perceptions of being good or poor at mathematics

Pupils’ general self-concept, mathematics self-concept, perceived mathematics
performance and perceptions Ofteaching methods

This section examines the assumption that pupils’ general self-concept, mathematics
self-concept and perceived mathematics performance affect their perceptions of
teaching methods. 5^th and 8^th graders were divided into two groups using their scores on
general self-concept, and mathematics self-concept. The difference in perceptions of
teaching methods of the two groups was compared using Independent t-tests. 5^th
graders and 8^th graders were divided into three groups on the basis of their perceived
mathematics performance. The difference in the perceptions of teaching methods in the
three groups was compared, using analysis of variance. The details of how the groups
were formed are outlined below.

General self-concept - The total mean score for general self-concept at 5^th grade was
24.76 (SD=5.57, median=25). The total mean score for general self-concept at 8^th grade
was 32.09 (SD=6.20, median=32). The relatively large difference between the two
groups was due to the different possible total scores; 40 for 5^th graders and 50 for 8^th
graders. 5^th graders were divided into those who scored at least 26 (44.7%) or below 25

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