Profiles of Pre-Service Primary Teachers: Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, and Gender Stereotypes in Teaching Science and Mathematics

Marianela Navarro; Annjeanette Martin; María P. Gómez-Arízaga

doi:10.29333/ejmste/11483

Full Text (PDF)

Marianela Navarro ¹ ^* , Annjeanette Martin ¹ , María P. Gómez-Arízaga ¹

More Detail

¹ Universidad de los Andes, CHILE^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This descriptive study aims to analyze personality traits associated with gender and attitudes and self-efficacy towards teaching science and mathematics in pre-service primary teachers. Convenience sampling was used to select 92 pre-service primary teachers in Chile, who were administered a set of instruments to measure these variables; these instruments have displayed adequate levels of validity and reliability. Results show that an important percentage of pre-service primary teachers have low levels of self-efficacy and attitudes toward teaching these subjects and have personality traits that indicate marked gender stereotypes. Furthermore, the measured variables together generate distinct profiles of pre-service primary teachers. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to creating more equitable school environments that strive to attract more students, especially girls, to engage in science and mathematics.

Keywords

attitudes
gender stereotypes
math instruction
pre-service primary teachers
science instruction
self-efficacy

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 18, Issue 1, January 2022, Article No: em2062

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11483

Publication date: 03 Jan 2022

Article Views: 3031

Article Downloads: 1258

Open Access Disclosures References How to cite this article

Disclosure

Declaration of Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest is declared by author(s).

Data sharing statement: Data supporting the findings and conclusions are available upon request from the corresponding author(s).

References

Agencia de la Calidad de la Educación [Agency for the Quality of Education]. (2018). Resultados educativos 2017 [Educational outcomes 2017]. http://archivos.agenciaeducacion.cl/PPT_Conferencia_ER_2017_web_3.pdf
Arias, O. (2016). Brecha de género en matemáticas: El sesgo de las pruebas competitivas (evidencia para Chile) [Gender gap in mathematics: Competitive tests bias (evidence for Chile)] [Master thesis, Universidad de Chile]. https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/139157
Bandura, A. (1977a). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215. https://doi.org/10.1016/0146-6402(78)90002-4
Bandura, A. (1997b). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Freeman.
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1
Banilower, E. R., Smith, P. S., Weiss, I. R., Malzahn, K. A., Campbell, K. M., & Weis, A. M. (2013). Report of the 2012 national survey of science and mathematics education. Horizon Research, Inc. http://www.horizon-research.com/2012nssme/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2012-NSSME-Full-Report1.pdf
Banjong, D. (2014). Same performance but different perception: Female stereotypes in mathematics emerge in fifth grade. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 6, 258-268. https://doi.org/10.15345/iojes.2014.02.001
Bassi, M., Blumberg, R. L., & Mateo Díaz, M. (2016). Under the “cloak of invisibility”: Gender bias in teaching practices and learning outcomes. IDB Working Paper Series, No. IDB-WP-696, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). https://doi.org/10.18235/0000446
Battaglia, O. R., Di Paola, B., & Fazio, C. (2017). A quantitative analysis of educational data through the comparison between hierarchical and not-hierarchical clustering. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(8), 4491-4512. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.00943a
Beilock, S., Gunderson, E., Ramirez, G., & Levine, S. (2010). Female teachers’ math anxiety affects girls’ math achievement. PNAS, 107(5), 1860-1863. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0910967107
Blalock, C. L., Lichtenstein, M. J., Owen, S., Pruski, L., Marshall, C., & Toepperwein, M. (2008). In pursuit of validity: A comprehensive review of science attitude instruments 1935-2005. International Journal of Science Education, 8(7), 961-77. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690701344578
Brígido, M., Borrachero, A. B., Bermejo. M. L., & Mellado, V. (2013) Prospective primary teachers’ self-efficacy and emotions in science teaching. European Journal of Teacher Education, 36(2), 200-217. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2012.686993
Bursal, M. (2010). Turkish, pre-service elementary teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding mathematics and science teaching. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 8(4), 649-666. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-009-9179-6
Cakiroglu, E., & Isiksal, M. (2009). Preservice elementary teachers’ attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs toward mathematics. Education and Science, 34(151), 132-139. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.842.3213&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Camacho, J. (2018). Educación científica no sexista. Aportes desde la investigación en didáctica de las ciencias [Non-sexist science education. Contributions from research in science didactics]. Nomadías, 25, 101-120.
Chan, S. H., & Lay, Y. F. (2021). Effects of attitude, self-efficacy beliefs, and motivation on behavioural intention in teaching science. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 93, 219-262. https://doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2021.93.11
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155-159. http://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155
Cvencek, D., Meltzoff, A. N., & Greenwald, A. G. (2011). Math-gender stereotypes in elementary school children. Child Development, 82(3), 776-779. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01529.x
de Kraker-Pauw, E., van Wesel, F., Verwijmeren, T., Denessen, E., & Krabbendam, L. (2016). Are teacher beliefs gender-related? Learning and Individual Differences, 51, 333-340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.08.040
Dejarnette, N. (2012). America’s children: providing early exposure to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiatives. Education, 133(1), 77-84.
Del Río, M. F., Strasser, K., & Susperreguy, M. I. (2013). Pre-school children’s beliefs about gender differences in academic skills. Sex Roles, 34(3-4), 231–238. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-012-0195-6
Dunkake, I., & Schuchart, C. (2015). Stereotypes and teacher characteristics as an explanation for the class-specific disciplinary practices of pre-service teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 50, 56-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.04.005
Espinoza, A. M., & Taut, S. (2016). El rol del género en las interacciones pedagógicas de aulas de matemática Chilenas [The role of gender in the pedagogical interactions of Chilean mathematics classrooms]. Psykhe, 25(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.7764/psykhe.25.2.858
Espinoza, P., Arêas da Luz Fontes, A. B., & Arms-Chavez, C. J. (2014). Attributional gender bias: Teachers’ ability and effort explanations for students’ math performance. Social Psychology of Education, 17, 105-126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-013-9226-6
Eugenio-Gozalbo, M., Aragón, L., Vicente, J., & Jiménez-Tenorio, N. (2019). Análisis de las experiencias de aprendizaje de las ciencias de los/as maestros/as de educación infantil y primaria en formación inicial a través de sus relatos de vida [Analysis of the science learning experiences of early childhood and primary education teachers in initial training through their life stories]. Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales y Sociales [Didactics of Experimental and Social Sciences], 37, 107‐126. https://doi.org/10.7203/DCES.37.14303
Ezzati, G. R. (2009). La imagen social de la femineidad y masculinidad en la enseñanza secundaria en Chile [The social image of femininity and masculinity in secondary education in Chile]. Educar [Educate], 35, 95-106. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-40602009000300008
Finlayson, M. (2014). Addressing math anxiety in the classroom. Improving Schools, 17(1), 99-115. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480214521457
Gencer, A. S., & Cakiroglu, J. (2007). Turkish preservice science teachers’ efficacy beliefs regarding science teaching and their beliefs about classroom management. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(5), 664-675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.09.013
González-Pérez, S., Mateos de Cabo, R., & Sáinz, M. (2020). Girls in STEM: Is it a female role-model thing? Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02204
Gurin, A., Jeanneret, G. Pearson, M. Pulley, M., Salinas, A., & Castillo-Garsow, C. (2017). The dynamics of math anxiety as it is transferred through peer and teacher interactions. https://mtbi.asu.edu/sites/default/files/manuscript_0.pdf
Hair, J., Anderson, R., Tatham, R., & Black, W. (1999). Análisis multivariante [Multivariate analysis]. Pearson Prentice Hall.
Haney, J., Lumpe, A., Czerniak, C., & Egan, V. (2002). From beliefs to actions: The beliefs and actions of teachers implementing change. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 13(3), 171-187. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016565016116
Haser, C. (2006). Investigation of preservice and inservice teachers’ mathematics related beliefs in Turkey and the perceived effect of middle school mathematics education program and the school context on these beliefs [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Michigan State University.
Hinnant, J. B., O’Brien, M., & Ghazarian, S. R. (2009). The longitudinal relations of teacher expectations to achievement in the early school years. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(3), 662-670. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014306
Jones, M. G., & Leagon, M. (2014). Science teacher attitudes and beliefs: Reforming practice. In N. G. Lederman & S. K. Abell (Eds.). Handbook of research on science education (Vol. II, pp. 830-847). Taylor and Francis.
Kazempour, M. (2014). I can’t teach science! A case study of an elementary preservice teacher’s intersection of science experiences, beliefs, attitude, and self-efficacy. International Journal of Environmental & Science Education, 9(1), 77-96. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1016889.pdf
Keller, J. (2007). Stereotype threat in classroom settings: The interactive effect of domain identification, task difficulty and stereotype threat on female students’ maths performance. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77(2), 323-338. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709906X113662
Korur, F., Vargas, R. V., & Serrano, N. T. (2016). Attitude toward science teaching of Spanish and Turkish in-service elementary teachers: Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 12(2), 303-320. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1215a
Lara, M. A. (1993). Inventario de masculinidad y feminidad [Inventory of masculinity and femininity]. Manual Moderno.
Legañoa, M. A., Báez, M., & García, J. (2017). Las actitudes hacia la matemática: Preparación de los maestros para considerarlas [Attitudes toward mathematics: Preparing teachers to consider them]. Transformación [Transformation], 13(1), 56-65.
Lewis, R. (2015). Elementary science anxiety: Impact of experience and gender [Honors thesis, Texas State University].
London, B., Rosenthal, L., Levy, S. R., & Lobel, M. (2011). The influences of perceived identity compatibility and social support on women in nontraditional fields during the college transition. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 33(4), 304-321. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2011.614166
Martínez-Gómez, J. A., Guerrero-Rodríguez, S. I., & Rey-Anacona, C. A. (2012). Evaluación de la validez de constructo y la confiabilidad del inventario de masculinidad y femineidad en adolescentes y adultos jóvenes colombianos [Evaluation of the construct validity and reliability of the inventory of masculinity and femininity in Colombian adolescents and young adults]. Avances en Psicología Latinoamericana [Advances in Latin American Psychology], 30(1), 170-181.
Mateos-Núñez, M., Martínez-Borreguero, G., & Naranjo-Correa, F. L. (2020). Comparación de las emociones, actitudes y niveles de autoeficacia ante áreas STEM entre diferentes etapas educativas [Comparison of emotions, attitudes and levels of self-efficacy in STEM areas between different educational stages]. European Journal of Education and Psychology, 13(1), 49-64. https://doi.org/10.30552/ejep.v13i1.292
Menon, D., & Sadler, T. (2016). Preservice elementary teachers’ science self-efficacy beliefs and science content knowledge. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 27(6), 649-673. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10972-016-9479-y
Michaluk, L., Stoiko, R., Stewart, G., & Stewart, J. (2018). Beliefs and attitudes about science and mathematics in pre-service elementary teachers, STEM, and non-STEM majors in undergraduate physics courses. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 27(2), 99-113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-017-9711-3
Ministerio de Educación [Ministry of Education]. (2012). Estándares orientadores para egresados de carreras de pedagogía en educación básica [Guiding standards for graduates of pedagogy careers in basic education]. https://www.cpeip.cl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Est%C3%A1ndares_B%C3%A1sica.pdf
Ministerio de Educación [Ministry of Education]. (2017). Estadísticas de la educación 2016 [Education statistics 2016]. https://centroestudios.mineduc.cl/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/2017/07/Anuario_2016.pdf
Mizala, A., Martínez, F., & Martínez, S. (2015). Pre-service elementary school teachers’ expectations about student performance: How their beliefs are affected by their mathematics anxiety and student’s gender. Teaching and Teacher Education, 50, 70-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.04.006
Moscovici, S. (1985). Psicología social I, influencia y cambio de actitudes, individuos y grupos [Social psychology I, influence and change of attitudes, individuals and groups]. Paidós.
Nadelson, L. S., Callahan, J., Pyke, P., Hay, A., Dance, M., & Pfiester, J. (2013). Teacher STEM perception and preparation: inquiry-based STEM professional development for elementary teachers. The Journal of Educational Research, 106(2), 157-168. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2012.667014
Nelson, L. D. (2015). A case study exploring the ways preservice elementary teachers with low levels of mathematics self-efficacy believe their mathematical ability will affect their teaching effectiveness [Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron].
Oppermann, E., Brunner, M., & Anders, Y. (2019). The interplay between preschool teachers’ science self-efficacy beliefs, their teaching practices, and girls’ and boys’ early science motivation. Learning and Individual Differences, 70, 86-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2019.01.006
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2016). PISA 2015 results (Volume I) Excellence and equity in education. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264266490-en
Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization]. (2016). Informe de resultados del tercer estudio regional comparativo y explicativo (TERCE) [Results report of the third regional comparative and explanatory study]. REICE. Revista Iberoamericana Sobre Calidad, Eficacia Y Cambio En Educación [Ibero-American Journal on Quality, Efficacy, and Change in Education], 14(4). https://doi.org/10.15366/reice2016.14.4.001
Peker, M., Erol, R., & Gultekin, M. (2018). Investigation of the teacher self-efficacy beliefs of math teachers. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 6(4), 1-11. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1192965.pdf
Ren, L., Green, J., & Smith, W. (2016). Using the Fennema-Sherman mathematics attitude scales with lower-primary teachers. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 28(2), 303-326. http://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-016-0168-0
Reuben, E., Sapienza, P., & Zingalesc, L. (2014). How stereotypes impair women’s careers in science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(12), 4403-4408. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1314788111
Riegle‐Crumb, C., Morton, K., Moore, C., Chimonidou, A., Labrake, C., & Kopp, S. (2015). Do inquiring minds have positive attitudes? The science education of preservice elementary teachers. Science Education, 99(5), 819-836. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21177
Saad, R., & Boujaoude, S. (2012). The relationship between teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about science and inquiry and their classroom practices. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 8(2), 113-128. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.825a
Shepherd, M. A. (2016). Effects of race/ethnicity, gender, and intonation on secondary science teachers’ evaluation of spoken responses. Urban Education, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916660346
Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4-14. https://doi.org/10.2307/1175860
Spelke, E. (2005). Sex differences in intrinsic aptitude for mathematics and science? American Psychologist, 60(9), 950-958. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.60.9.950
Stern, H. H. (1983). Fundamental concepts of language teaching. Oxford University Press.
Stoehr, K., & Carter, K. (2012). Positive turning points for girls in mathematics classrooms: Do they stand the test of time? In L. R. Van Zoest, J. J. Lo, & J. L. Kratky (Eds.). Proceedings of the 34th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 765-768). Western Michigan University.
Szabó, J., Révész, H. G., & Van-Dyke, D. (2020). The most important attributes for talented students who want to be scientists. Gifted Education International, 37(3), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261429420947092
Thomas, A. (2017). Gender differences in students’ physical science motivation are teachers’ implicit cognitions another piece of the puzzle? American Educational Research Journal, 54(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216682223
Türer, B., & Kunt, H. (2015). A review of relationship between prospective science teachers’ attitudes towards science education and their self-efficacy. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 3(6), 166-178. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v3i6.983
Ultay, N., Ultay, E., & Yilmazer, H. (2020). Determining the relationship between preschool teachers’ attitudes towards science teaching and self-efficacy beliefs in terms of various variables. Science Education International, 31(4), 391-399. https://doi.org/10.33828/sei.v31.i4.8
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2019). Cracking the code: Girls’ and women’s education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000253479
van Aalderen-Smeets, S. I., & van der Molen, J. W. (2013). Measuring primary teachers’ attitudes toward teaching science: Development of the dimensions of attitude toward science (DAS) instrument. International Journal of Science Education, 35(4), 577-600. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2012.755576
van Aalderen-Smeets, S. I., van der Molen, J. W., & Asma, L. J. F. (2012). Primary teachers’ attitudes toward science: A new theoretical framework. Science Education, 96(1), 158-182. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20467
van der Sandt, S., & O’Brien, S., (2017). Impact of instructor teaching style and content course on mathematics anxiety of preservice teachers. Journal of Technology Education, 29(1), 95-111. https://doi.org/10.21061/jte.v29i1.a.5
Varas, L., Felmer, P., Gálvez, G., Lewin, R., Martínez, C., Navarro, S., Ortiz, A., & Schwarze, G. (2018). Oportunidades de preparación para enseñar matemáticas de futuros profesores de educación general básica en Chile. Calidad en la Educación [Quality in Education], 29, 64-88. https://doi.org/10.31619/caledu.n29.188
Verdugo, M., Asún, R., & Martínez, S. (2017). Validación de la escala de creencias de eficacia en la enseñanza de la matemática (ECEEM) y caracterización de las creencias de estudiantes de pedagogía básica [Validation of the scale of beliefs of effectiveness in the teaching of mathematics (ECEEM) and characterization of the beliefs of students of basic pedagogy]. Calidad en la Educación [Quality in Education], 47, 145-178. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-45652017000200145
Wendt, J., & Rockinson-Szapkiw, A. (2018). A psychometric evaluation of the English version of the dimensions of attitudes toward science instrument with a U.S. population of elementary educators. Teaching and Teacher Education, 70, 24-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.11.009
Wilkins, J. L. M. (2010). Elementary school teachers’ attitudes toward different subjects. The Teacher Educator, 45(1), 23-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/08878730903386856
Yeigh, T., Woolcott, G., Donnelly, J., Whannell, R., Snow, M., & Scott, A. (2016). Emotional literacy and pedagogical confidence in pre-service science and mathematics teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(6), Article 7. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2016v41n6.7
Zhu, B., & Zhou, Y. (2012). A study on students’ affective factors in junior high school English teaching. English Language Teaching, 5(7), 33-41. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v5n7p33

How to cite this article

APA

Navarro, M., Martin, A., & Gómez-Arízaga, M. P. (2022). Profiles of Pre-Service Primary Teachers: Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, and Gender Stereotypes in Teaching Science and Mathematics. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 18(1), em2062. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11483

Vancouver

Navarro M, Martin A, Gómez-Arízaga MP. Profiles of Pre-Service Primary Teachers: Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, and Gender Stereotypes in Teaching Science and Mathematics. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2022;18(1):em2062. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11483

AMA

Navarro M, Martin A, Gómez-Arízaga MP. Profiles of Pre-Service Primary Teachers: Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, and Gender Stereotypes in Teaching Science and Mathematics. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2022;18(1), em2062. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11483

Chicago

Navarro, Marianela, Annjeanette Martin, and María P. Gómez-Arízaga. "Profiles of Pre-Service Primary Teachers: Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, and Gender Stereotypes in Teaching Science and Mathematics". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2022 18 no. 1 (2022): em2062. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11483

Harvard

Navarro, M., Martin, A., and Gómez-Arízaga, M. P. (2022). Profiles of Pre-Service Primary Teachers: Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, and Gender Stereotypes in Teaching Science and Mathematics. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 18(1), em2062. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11483

MLA

Navarro, Marianela et al. "Profiles of Pre-Service Primary Teachers: Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, and Gender Stereotypes in Teaching Science and Mathematics". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 18, no. 1, 2022, em2062. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11483