French preschool and primary teachers' attitude towards finger counting
Teachers' beliefs and attitudes are known to guide the type of activities they implement in their classrooms. A traditional conception that finger counting is merely a back-up when children fail to use more sophisticated and efficient strategies could therefore prevent teachers from encouraging...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Acta Psychologica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000169182300255X |
| _version_ | 1797399232966033408 |
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| author | Céline Poletti Marie Krenger Marie Létang Catherine Thevenot |
| author_facet | Céline Poletti Marie Krenger Marie Létang Catherine Thevenot |
| author_sort | Céline Poletti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Teachers' beliefs and attitudes are known to guide the type of activities they implement in their classrooms. A traditional conception that finger counting is merely a back-up when children fail to use more sophisticated and efficient strategies could therefore prevent teachers from encouraging children's use of fingers in arithmetic tasks. However, the potential benefit of finger counting for young learners has been recently documented and setting aside its practice within classrooms may hinder children's mathematical skill development. It is therefore important to establish whether there is a discrepancy between teacher's beliefs regarding finger counting and the latest discoveries in this field of research. To this aim, we interrogated 413 teachers from preschool to Grade 5. We found that, despite being generally positive towards finger counting, teachers think that finger counting is typical of children who present math difficulties or lack of confidence, even during the first years of learning. These results are discussed considering what is known and what remains to be determined in the current scientific literature. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:36:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9f0911f307234cc2a027c9edfa81de5e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0001-6918 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:36:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Psychologica |
| spelling | doaj.art-9f0911f307234cc2a027c9edfa81de5e2023-12-09T06:04:01ZengElsevierActa Psychologica0001-69182023-11-01241104079French preschool and primary teachers' attitude towards finger countingCéline Poletti0Marie Krenger1Marie Létang2Catherine Thevenot3University of Lausanne, Institute of Psychology, SwitzerlandUniversity of Lausanne, Institute of Psychology, SwitzerlandLea.fr, Editions Nathan, Paris, FranceUniversity of Lausanne, Institute of Psychology, Switzerland; Corresponding author at: University of Lausanne, SSP, Institute of Psychology, Géopolis Building, Room 4536, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.Teachers' beliefs and attitudes are known to guide the type of activities they implement in their classrooms. A traditional conception that finger counting is merely a back-up when children fail to use more sophisticated and efficient strategies could therefore prevent teachers from encouraging children's use of fingers in arithmetic tasks. However, the potential benefit of finger counting for young learners has been recently documented and setting aside its practice within classrooms may hinder children's mathematical skill development. It is therefore important to establish whether there is a discrepancy between teacher's beliefs regarding finger counting and the latest discoveries in this field of research. To this aim, we interrogated 413 teachers from preschool to Grade 5. We found that, despite being generally positive towards finger counting, teachers think that finger counting is typical of children who present math difficulties or lack of confidence, even during the first years of learning. These results are discussed considering what is known and what remains to be determined in the current scientific literature.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000169182300255XTeacher's attitudesFinger countingArithmetic calculationsPreschool teachersPrimary teachers |
| spellingShingle | Céline Poletti Marie Krenger Marie Létang Catherine Thevenot French preschool and primary teachers' attitude towards finger counting Acta Psychologica Teacher's attitudes Finger counting Arithmetic calculations Preschool teachers Primary teachers |
| title | French preschool and primary teachers' attitude towards finger counting |
| title_full | French preschool and primary teachers' attitude towards finger counting |
| title_fullStr | French preschool and primary teachers' attitude towards finger counting |
| title_full_unstemmed | French preschool and primary teachers' attitude towards finger counting |
| title_short | French preschool and primary teachers' attitude towards finger counting |
| title_sort | french preschool and primary teachers attitude towards finger counting |
| topic | Teacher's attitudes Finger counting Arithmetic calculations Preschool teachers Primary teachers |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000169182300255X |
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