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

6.1.17

8^th

Teachers may miss a particular pupil’s lack of motivation in some cases.
Such pupils may try hard to deal with the tasks in class and respond to
questions correctly. But if they try to learn carefully or review at home, they
do not get good marks in the tests. In these cases, teachers may not notice
the pupil’s lack of motivation until they see his or her deteriorated test
performance._________________________________________________________

6.1.18

Children of today don’t know understand about co-operation and mutual
support with peers. For example, they are poor at discussion skills such as
Uderstanding what others are saying and expressing their views in public. I
think it is important to learn how to communicate with peers in mathematics
classes. Communication with peers should not be limited to exchanging
greetings. They need to learn how to discuss abstract concepts with peers.

6.1.19

~5^ξir~

I would like to cultivate the children’s attitudes so that they accept each
other in a classroom. I believe that this is as important as promoting their
mathematics attainment. We cannot persuade pupils how important this is
by words. Children can learn it through observing how I accept individual
children.________________________________________________________________________

6.1.20

Trust between my pupils and me is important to make pupils feel secure. If
a good relationship is not built between teacher and pupils and between
peers, children will not present their views frankly. Basically, the
capabilities of the teacher in building up such relationships in a classroom
make mathematics classes successful. Teachers should not blame their
pupils for lack of understanding or misbehaviour in a class. Teachers
should examine their own attitudes. Thus, teachers have responsibilities
regarding the extent to which pupils feel secure in mathematics
learning._______________________________________________________________________

6.1.21

-ɛffi-

Pupils’ sense of security does not only depend on their mathematics
attainment. I think it depends on the relationships between peers and
environmental factors. Therefore, teachers should create a classroom
atmosphere so that the pupils feel secure in learning mathematics._________

6.1.22

8^tn

Pupils are more likely to be conscious about getting a right answer rather
than the process of how they have been thinking about finding the answer.
Most of the tasks in mathematics class require one definite answer. So, I
think, pupils are in a situation in which they have anxiety more often than
literature classes where pupils can enjoy exchanging views. Children who
raise their views seem to favour discussion methods, but for the pupils,
who do not have their own opinions or who do not feel easy about
speaking in public, discussion methods cause anxiety. Some pupils feel
more relaxed in taking part in practical work or experiments, but this also
causes pupils’ anxiety if they are not accustomed to this learning method or
are not sure about the procedure. They must be just as upset. Using
computers may be beneficial to reduce pupils’ anxiety by learning
individually. But, focusing on learning through computers may make the
pupils feel isolated and may not reduce their anxieties._____________________

6.1.23

^5^ur~

I think that promoting pupils’ sense of security may be less emphasised
than three other aspects, say, enjoyment, motivation and sense of
progress, in my mathematics classes.___________________________________