Primary teachers' beliefs about the use of mathematics textbooks

Abstract

This paper describes a small-scale investigation of the beliefs teachers hold about student textbooks and the factors that influence their decision to use them in mathematics lessons. Findings suggest that teachers’ decisions to use textbooks in mathematics are influenced by external factors, the teachers’ perceived educational value of textbooks and, the teachers’ personal confidence and competence to teach mathematics. However, there is some evidence to suggest that contrary to previous studies, the 34 Queensland teachers suveyed appear to make less frequent use of textbooks and are more discerning about the manner in which they use textbooks in their classrooms.