In-service teachers’ perception on implementing realistic mathematics education approach in their best practices

Abstract This paper aims to portray elementary teachers’ perception of implementing the Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach in their best practice after training in a series of RME workshops. The perceptions captured in the study include (1) teachers’ confidence in understanding RME and its implementation in their best practices; (2) RME criteria, which teachers found most challenging during the planning and the implementation. The subject of this study is 296 elementary teachers who have attended the training. The workshop series provided RME materials, simulation during the workshop, implementation in teachers’ best practices, and the workshop to discuss their experience. There are two findings in this study. Firstly, most teachers have a better understanding of RME characteristics. However, most teacher believe that the RME approach can be applied most mathematical topics. They felt confident in implementing the RME approach in their best practices. Secondly, teachers found that the most challenging when planned the RME lesson was finding suitable media related to mathematics topics. Moreover, during the implementation, teachers found it most challenging to lead students to formal mathematics. These results suggest that the most impactful workshop is better, followed by best practices and participants’ reflection afterward.