Abstract / Synopsis
In this paper, we discuss preservice elementary teachers (PSTs) self-report of their happiness or unhappiness. Several times throughout a mathematics content capstone course, PSTs responded to prompts in which they described times from their past schooling experiences or during the course in which they experienced happiness or unhappiness in learning mathematics. Through thematic analysis, we examined their common experiences related to happiness and their mathematics learning. We found that PSTs’ happiness is related to expectations of themselves, their teachers, their peers, and mathematics itself. The study illuminates PST beliefs about mathematics teaching, collaborative group work, and the nature of mathematical understanding.
DOI
10.5642/jhummath.202201.07
Recommended Citation
Jeffrey Pair & Kent Dinh, "Happiness in Mathematics Education: The Experiences of Preservice Elementary Teachers," Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, Volume 12 Issue 1 (January 2022), pages 98-117. DOI: 10.5642/jhummath.202201.07. Available at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol12/iss1/7
