A comparison of Hungarian and English teachers' conceptions of Mathematics and its teaching

This paper reports on a statistical study of English and Hungarian teachers' conceptions of mathematics and its teaching. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to teachers of mathematics in 200 English and 40 Hungarian schools teaching children in the 11-14 age range. Factor analyses identified four conceptions of mathematics and five of mathematics teaching. These were compared with those yielded by an earlier study involving the same English teachers and found to be consistent indicating the existence of similar conceptions in different educational systems. Differences and similarities in the strengths with which those conceptions are held were suggestive of both global and national conceptual traditions. The significant similarity to emerge concerned teachers from both countries sharing, with similar strengths, a general conception of mathematics teaching incorporating the teaching of mathematical skills, a variety of classroom approaches including investigations and problem-solving, and a recognition that mathematics provides an essential lifetool. Multi-dimensional scaling indicated that English teachers have their perspectives informed by two underlying, and possibly conflicting, traditions - pedagogic relevance and mathematical utility. The Hungarians appeared concerned only with notions of pedagogic relevance - those practices perceived to facilitate effective learning of a subject which is untainted by utilitarian perspectives. © 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers.