Teachers’ perceptions about mathematics in a socio-religious context: A case from Pakistan

Munira Amirali; Anjum Halai

doi:10.29333/ejmste/11434

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Munira Amirali ¹ ^* , Anjum Halai ¹

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¹ Aga Khan University, PAKISTAN^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This study investigated mathematics teachers’ beliefs about the nature of mathematics and the contributory factors shaping them. A survey of 200 trained and untrained mathematics teachers from public and private schools was carried out in Karachi Pakistan, a context with a strong influence of religion on the socio-cultural practices of the people. The survey was followed by a focus-group discussion with selected teachers and is the focus of this paper. This is a ground-breaking study in a hitherto under-researched socio-religious context.
Teachers across the system showed a strong similarity in beliefs. A commonly held view was that mathematics is created by Allah and mathematicians have worked with this knowledge to invent practical applications in service of religion. Teachers’ experiences of learning mathematics and their deep-rooted religious beliefs shaped their views of mathematics. The study highlights the sensitive and resilient nature of teachers’ beliefs and the significance of taking them into account in reforming teacher education policy and practice.

Keywords

nature of mathematics
mathematics teachers’ beliefs
socio-religious context
Pakistan

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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 17, Issue 12, December 2021, Article No: em2059

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11434

Publication date: 20 Dec 2021

Article Views: 2028

Article Downloads: 1117

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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).

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How to cite this article

APA

Amirali, M., & Halai, A. (2021). Teachers’ perceptions about mathematics in a socio-religious context: A case from Pakistan. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(12), em2059. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11434

Vancouver

Amirali M, Halai A. Teachers’ perceptions about mathematics in a socio-religious context: A case from Pakistan. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2021;17(12):em2059. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11434

AMA

Amirali M, Halai A. Teachers’ perceptions about mathematics in a socio-religious context: A case from Pakistan. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2021;17(12), em2059. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11434

Chicago

Amirali, Munira, and Anjum Halai. "Teachers’ perceptions about mathematics in a socio-religious context: A case from Pakistan". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2021 17 no. 12 (2021): em2059. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11434

Harvard

Amirali, M., and Halai, A. (2021). Teachers’ perceptions about mathematics in a socio-religious context: A case from Pakistan. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(12), em2059. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11434

MLA

Amirali, Munira et al. "Teachers’ perceptions about mathematics in a socio-religious context: A case from Pakistan". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 17, no. 12, 2021, em2059. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/11434