Primary Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Knowledge and.pdfVIP

Primary Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Knowledge and Understanding of Measurement Michelle O’Keefe Janette Bobis University of Sydney University of Sydney mro@linuxmail.org j.bobis@edfac.usyd.edu.au This study focused on primary teachers’ perceptions of their knowledge and understandings of length, area and volume. It also explored their understanding of how children’s growth of measurement concepts and processes develops. Data gained from in-depth interviews revealed that teachers’ knowledge was often implicit and that they struggled to articulate their knowledge of measurement concepts and children’s trajectories of learning. Over the past decade an increasing amount of research has been concerned with the key concepts and skills that students need to understand measurement–particularly, relating to length and area (e.g., Barret, Jones, Thornton, Dickson, 2003; Outhred McPhail, 2000). However, relatively little is known about teachers’ understandings of these concepts and how their knowledge impacts on their teaching practices. The research reported here explores primary teachers’ perceptions of their mathematical content knowledge and of how children’s understanding of length, area and volume develops. It is also concerned with teachers’ perceptions of how this knowledge impacts on their pedagogy. Background to the Study Measurement is a central component of primary and secondary school curriculum documents around the world (e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000). Consequently, there is an extensive body of research relating to the teaching of length, area and volume. The majo