Chinese Journal of Science Education

Abstract

Most teachers do not change their traditional teaching approach in response to mathematics teaching reform. I have been teaching for 7 years in elementary school. My mathematics teaching is moving away from a student-centered approach. I found some factors that seem to limit the possibility of changing my teaching approach. In order to understand my resistance to changing my teaching, a collaborative action research design was adopted. Theories provided a framework for teaching design, implementation and reflection, and I tried to identify the type of resistance type I possessed. A university researcher provided emotional support and help to understand the position and goals that I set in my mathematics teaching. During a one and a half year period, I found there were three different types of resistance to teaching change that characterized my behavior. These types were “Resistance to Context Change” (RCC), “Resistance to Pedagogical Change” (RPC), and “Resistance to Ideological Change” (RIC). The reasons for this resistance to change were due to the school context, teacher’s knowledge and beliefs, and students’ learning of mathematics. Meanwhile, through the processes of continually teaching, reflection and adjustment, and dialogue with a university researcher, I was successful in changing my mathematics teaching toward a student-centered approach. After this change in teaching approach, the students were more actively engaged in mathematics learning and expressing their ideas about mathematics tasks. In addition, the students’ attitude toward learning also changed from passive to active.

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