Access to and engagement with mathematics across the transition from primary to post-primary school: Teacher knowledge and perceptions

Research surrounding the transition has frequently cited the quality of students’ interaction with teachers as having a significant association with engagement in mathematics. Thus in this cross-border study we employed a questionnaire with the aim of capturing teachers’ knowledge and perceptions that underpin their instructional practices and ultimately impact on student achievement. A representative sample of 428 primary and 248 post-primary mathematics teachers from across both jurisdictions responded. The findings show that most primary teachers consider mathematics easier than other subjects to teach with only around 10% of post-primary teachers perceiving this to be the case. With the exception of post-primary teachers in Northern Ireland, perceived levels of content knowledge of the preceding/ensuing stage are low. All teachers reported a high sense of confidence in relation to teaching all strands across the mathematics curriculum and answering students’ questions in class. Primary teachers were more likely to consider students well prepared in all strands of the curriculum upon exiting primary school than post-primary teachers. This disagreement was more pronounced when considering Algebra than any other strand. In this paper, we consider how these findings shape instructional practice and thus influence students access to and engagement with mathematics.