Preservice teaching students have been presenting with a weaker understanding of mathematics and anxiety towards the subject (Brown et al., 2012; Jensen et al., 2022). Personal beliefs about the subject, noted in tutorials and in lectures and seminars demonstrate that many students have a lower mathematics self -concept. Mathematics self - concept refers to a person’s belief about their competence in mathematics (Rossi et al., 2022; Marsh, 1986). The understanding of the link between mathematics anxiety and dyscalculia is developing (Devine et al., 2018) but its prevalence in preservice teachers and its impact on mathematical self-concept requires further exploration.

From September 2013 anyone wishing to train as a teacher in England had to pass ‘skills tests’ in English and mathematics (DFE, 2001). The introduction of these tests was aimed at improving the quality of candidates entering the profession. Despite objections from the profession and the teaching unions regarding the loss of many potential teachers and the undermining of the profession, it took a further 7 years for the tests to be scrapped. The replacement for the tests put the responsibility on both the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) provider and the candidate to assure that they have met the standard of the fundamental skills. Universities therefore need to assure that any candidates that are recommended for qualified teacher status demonstrate competency but also that support is provided to enable the candidates to become competent.   

All ITT students must have attained the equivalence to a ‘C’ grade at GCSE (DfE, 2023, C1.1), England’s end of compulsory school exam, as minimum and so must have studied the subject for a minimum of 12 years. Therefore, the time to develop subject knowledge, confidence and appreciation of mathematics has been offered but so too is the chance for shallow and disconnected learning, crises of confidence and a lack of appreciation of the subject.  A grade C or higher may open the door to further study but it may have been achieved through rote learning and recall rather than understanding (Chinn, 2020) and this can lead to many students who have disengaged with the subject.

The pressure to keep up with their peers may be a contributing factor to the development of anxiety around the subject. Mathematical anxiety is complex and multifaceted. It may occur for many reasons. Broadly speaking it is a negative emotional reaction to mathematics (Carey et al., 2019) which can be characterized by low mathematical confidence and expectations of success, apprehension, fear, mental blocks, reduced working memory, inaccurate perceptions of what it is to be a mathematician, avoidance, and helplessness (Chinn, 2020). The manifestation of mathematical anxiety can be seen in emotional, behavioural and physiological responses.  

The development of mathematical anxiety can be attributed to a range of different factors. Many students enter ITT believing that they have a specific learning difficulty around numbers and the understanding of mathematics however there can also be many contributing reasons for this too. Students may have dyscalculia; however, this condition may not have been formally diagnosed.  Dyscalculia is defined as a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers which can lead to a diverse range of difficulties with mathematics. Unexpected in relation to age and level of education, mathematics difficulties are best thought of as a continuum where dyscalculia falls at one end of the spectrum and will be distinguishable from other mathematics issues due to the severity of difficulties with number sense, including subitising, symbolic and non-symbolic magnitude comparison, and ordering. It can occur singly but often co-occurs with other specific learning difficulties, mathematics anxiety and medical conditions (SASC,2019). 

The research will be conducted through an instrumental case study design seeking to explore the experiences of students who perceive themselves to have dyscalculia. The instrumental case study approach allows the researchers to explore the issues surrounding the intersectionality of dyscalculia and mathematical anxiety amongst preservice teachers particularly focussing on those students that may have experienced a disrupted formal education due to the Covid 19 pandemic. This approach was also selected as it allows for the in-depth study which then leads to ‘fuzzy generalisations’ (Bell and Waters, 2018, p.30) which may be transferable to other universities where teacher education is offered. The case is formed through the 2023- 2026 cohort of students on the BA primary Education with QTS course at a university in England. The data set will be collected through offering all students enrolled on the BA Primary Education 5-11 with Qualified Teacher Status degree, the Dynamo Post 14 assessment, a published resource which has been developed in partnership with the University of Oxford, this will be used to screen students for dyscalculia from January 2024. The decision to screen at this at this point in their training is twofold; the students will have engaged in a short experiential teaching placement of three weeks but will not have started their first module on the teaching of mathematics. They have therefore developed some understanding of primary school aged mathematics teaching through observation but have not yet commenced on the module. Purposive sampling will be used to approach students whose screening shows indicators of dyscalculia. Students who have asked to be screened but do not show indicators will also be contacted. These students will be selected to include a range of genders, ages, and backgrounds. All students selected will be asked to take part in the semi structured interviews seeking to understand more about their experiences and attitudes towards mathematics and their perceptions of mathematical self-concept. Using a qualitative approach, the semi structured interviews will be transcribed, coded, and analysed to identify factors that are present. These will be compared to the results of the Dynamo Post 14 assessment to identify associating factors of both mathematical anxiety and dyscalculia. The research questions for this study are: What are the associating factors of both dyscalculia and mathematical anxiety? Which factors impact mathematical self-concept?

The aim of this research is to gain a deeper insight into the varying experiences which develop mathematical self-concept in preservice teachers. It will consider the challenges that preservice teachers within the case study cohort have experienced and how these have impacted upon their attitudes towards mathematics. It also aims to identify any factors in the relationship between dyscalculia and mathematical anxiety and the factors which may impact mathematical self-concept. Understanding these factors will indicate how our current mathematics teacher education programme may need to change to support students more effectively. About 6% of the population are thought to have dyscalculia (BDA, 2023) however a survey by Drew and Trott (2015) found the number of students formally identified with dyscalculia in Higher Education (HE) was only 0.04%. Therefore, we argue that the identification could help alleviate levels of anxiety, establish entitlement to specialist support needed by students but also develop awareness in staff and school-based mentors regarding teaching approaches that may cause unnecessary anxiety and failure (ADSHE, 2021). As an additional benefit of increasing knowledge about dyscalculia and mathematical anxiety this can be included within the ITT taught programme thereby developing wider teacher understanding and pupil support (Hornigold, 2015, p.324).

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