Feeling Good and Functioning Well in Mathematics Education: Exploring Students’ Conceptions of Mathematical Well-Being and Values

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title>Purpose:</jats:title><jats:p> The high incidence of mathematics anxiety and disengagement in mathematics points to poor student well-being in many mathematics classrooms. Poor well-being may arise in part from poor alignment between student values and classroom experiences. Yet, what student well-being is and how to support it within specific subjects is poorly understood, and intersection between students’ values and well-being in mathematics education is unclear. This article proposes a seven-dimensional framework of student well-being in mathematics education and examines alignment between well-being and values. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Design/Approach/Methods:</jats:title><jats:p> One hundred nineteen eighth-grade Australian students responded to three open-ended questions investigating their conceptions of mathematical well-being (MWB) and what they valued most when learning or doing mathematics. Responses were analyzed using a combined deductive/inductive thematic analysis. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Findings:</jats:title><jats:p> Findings supported the MWB framework and confirmed an alignment between students’ values and well-being in mathematics education. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Originality/Value:</jats:title><jats:p> Our study provides a framework for conceptualizing student well-being in mathematics education, points to areas to target to improve student well-being, and highlights congruences and discordances between well-being and values. </jats:p></jats:sec>

Exploring Issues About Values in Mathematics Education

“…As researchers have noticed, the issues about values in mathematics education are rather complex (e.g., Hill et al, 2021), and this complexity is largely caused by the complexity of the concept of values itself. In fact, when people talk about "values" in mathematics education, what are valued can be mathematics, mathematics teaching and learning, and mathematics education as part of general education, and those who value can be students, teachers, curriculum developers, educational policy makers, government leaders, and the general public or the society, and moreover, values can be about the outcomes of teaching and learning or about their process.…”

How might values in mathematics learning affect the development of beliefs: An exploratory study with Chinese elementary students

“…Given the increase in interest in students' wellbeing in school education, not least due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the close links between values and (mathematical) wellbeing (e.g. Tiberius, 2018) have been investigated in Australia, led by Julia Hill (Hill et al, 2021), and more recently in China (Pan et al, in press), further highlighting the significance of values and valuing in helping students learn mathematics more effectively and positively. Yet, we have not fully developed efficient means of inculcating specific values amongst students.…”

Reimagining Mathematics Education for the 21st Century in the 21st Century

“…Unfortunately, the argument by Hill, Kern, Seah and van Driel (2020) that there is "a poor sense of student well-being in many Australian mathematics classrooms" (p. 2) would apply to most if not all countries around the world. Students are generally not thriving in their mathematics learning experience, and not feeling good nor happy with it as well.…”

“…A recent Australian study conducted by Hill, Kern, Seah and van Driel (2020) had aimed to explore if there might be a set of values that is relatively stable at the national level. Preliminary findings from 488 Grade 8 students in Melbourne suggested that the following seven 'themes' were associated with positive wellbeing: relationships, engagement, cognitive, accomplishment, positive emotions, perseverance, and meaning.…”