Beliefs, Attitudes and Practices in Mathematics Teaching: Perceptions of Scottish primary school student teachers

Attitudes towards and feelings about mathematics and mathematics teaching of first and final year primary student teachers in Scotland are reported. While overall reasonably confident and positive towards teaching mathematics, they tend to be relatively unadventurous in their teaching, lack strong personal views of their own, think of mathematics teaching as unexciting and in relation to other curricular areas difficult and worrying. They may have an over-optimistic view of their mathematical abilities and understanding. It is suggested that the mathematical component of teacher education courses in Scotland may not be fully adequate for its task.