Early Childhood Educators’ and Teachers’ Early Mathematics Education Knowledge, Beliefs, and Pedagogy

Authors

  • Sandy Youmans Queen's University
  • Andrew Coombs Queen's University
  • Lynda Colgan Queen's University

Abstract

In the spring of 2017, an educational needs assessment of early mathematics education in Ontario was conducted using an online survey for early childhood educators, kindergarten teachers, and Grade 1 teachers. The purpose of the needs assessment was to acquire a brief account of the state of early mathematics education in the province and to identify any potential gaps between current and desired early mathematics education practices. Educators’ responses (n = 130) about their early mathematics knowledge, beliefs, and pedagogy revealed four critical areas that need to be addressed to improve the quality of early mathematics education.

 

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Author Biographies

Sandy Youmans, Queen's University

Dr. Sandy Youmans is an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Education, Queen’s University. She is the Project Manager for the Critical Transitions in Early Mathematical Development Community of Practice through the Math Knowledge Network and a Co-Investigator on a Ministry of Education project, Building Parent Engagement: A Project to Support the Implementation of Ontario’s Renewed Mathematics Strategy. Sandy’s former role as the Project Manager of the Evaluation of the Implementation of the Full-Day Early Learning Kindergarten (FDELK) program commissioned by the Ontario Ministry of Education informed her PhD research on the FDELK program. Her experiences as a kindergarten teacher, educational researcher, and mother of three confirm the importance of the Early Years in providing a solid foundation for children's learning.

Andrew Coombs, Queen's University

Andrew Coombs’ doctoral research within the Faculty of Education, Queen’s University, is focused on how teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, and skills in classroom assessment are shaped by their experiences within teacher education programs and the classroom. He has been published in Teaching and Teacher Education, Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, in addition to several non-education journals including PLOS Genetics, Journal of Medical Genetics, Leukemia, and Blood. Andrew currently serves as Associate Editor at the Canadian Journal for New Scholars in Education.

Lynda Colgan, Queen's University

Dr. Lynda Colgan is currently a Professor at the Faculty of Education, Queen’s University. She has been at educator at the elementary, middle school, secondary, post-secondary and district-wide level over her career. Recently, she was the lead on three CODE projects: Inspiring your child to learn and love math; Choose a path that includes math; and, MathStoryTime. She is the PI on a Ministry of Education project, Building Parent Engagement: a project to support the implementation of Ontario’s Renewed Mathematics Strategy and is also the Lead for the Critical Transitions CoP for the Mathematics Knowledge Network.

 

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Published

2018-12-15

How to Cite

Youmans, S., Coombs, A., & Colgan, L. (2018). Early Childhood Educators’ and Teachers’ Early Mathematics Education Knowledge, Beliefs, and Pedagogy. Canadian Journal of Education Revue Canadienne De l’éducation, 41(4), 1080–1104. Retrieved from https://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/3442

Issue

Vol. 41 No. 4 (2018): Winter 2018 | Hiver 2018

Section

Articles

License

The Canadian Journal of Education follows Creative Commons Licencing CC BY-NC-ND.