Raising attainment: what might we learn from teachers’ beliefs about their best and worst mathematics students?

Teachers’ beliefs about the capacities of students to learn mathematics have been linked to the environments that they establish in their mathematics classes, the pedagogy they employ, and what they see as appropriate goals for mathematics teaching. Eighteen teachers of secondary mathematics were asked to describe the best and the worst students of mathematics that they were currently teaching, and to describe how they planned to ensure that each student made progress in his/her mathematics learning in the coming year. The findings highlight the potential of efforts to teach mathematical thinking as defined by the proficiency strands of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics, as well as particular work habits, to enhance the attainment of students perceived as less capable.