Teaching for engagement: Pedagogical pathways to motivating mathematics learners and enhancing cognitive engagement

Background: Strengthening learner engagement during the early years of mathematics education is crucial for mathematical success. A significant challenge is to transform primary classrooms from teacher-centred spaces to ones where learners are motivated to participate and to enjoy the mathematics they need to learn. In trying to address this challenge, the authors collaborated with an external organisation, Numeric, to introduce engagement strategies to enhance motivation and cognitive engagement among participants who were peer tutors for a primary mathematics course. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the 15 tutors’ perceptions of their professional growth in terms of motivation and cognitive engagement following their involvement in a tutor development programme. The programme trainers embedded activities that helped tutors develop practical classroom management skills while facilitating energisers and computational fluency tasks. Setting: A development programme for student tutors who support students doing Foundation and Intermediate Phase mathematics. Methods: The research instruments were made up of a questionnaire, a focus group interview and WhatsApp conversations. Pre-test and post-test comparisons showed that participation in the intervention significantly improved the tutors’ fluency in mathematical computations. Results: The tutors’ reflections on their own professional growth helped them recognise the value of learner engagement strategies for classroom practice. The tutors also learnt from the facilitators’ effective modelling of engagement-oriented strategies. Conclusion: The study illustrates that pre-service teachers (PSTs) are receptive to learner engagement activities that can potentially transform primary mathematics classrooms while enhancing cognitive engagement. Contribution: The study contributes to knowledge of how well-designed engagement strategies in teacher education can foster cognitive, affective and professional benefits in the teacher education setting.