How to Feel About and Learn Mathematics: Therapeutic Intervention and Attentiveness

Abstract

In mathematics teacher education, tasks that centre on doing mathematics are used for a variety of purposes, including learning new mathematics. In our research, we focus on doing mathematics as a therapeutic intervention. Many pre-service teachers in our program narrate impoverished mathematics experiences. We engage preservice elementary school teachers in non-routine problem solving and examine how this affects their experiences with mathematics. Specifically, we focus on change in affective responses as a precursor to development in mathematical thinking and as an indicator of potential changes in practice. Our study shows that doing mathematics evokes changes in how teachers think and feel about doing, learning, and teaching mathematics.