MEI 7: Seventh Conference on Research in Mathematics Education in Ireland
Published October 11, 2019 | Version v1
Conference paper Open

INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF SHARED PICTURE BOOK READING ON PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Dublin City University

Description

The intervention described in this paper facilitated mathematical discussions between parents and children within the context of picture books. Parental involvement has been shown to have the potential to impact significantly on a child’s attainment in school (Epstein, 1995; Anthony & Walshaw, 2007). The intervention took place in a rural school in County Kildare and lasted for three weeks. The research focus encompassing the intervention was the parents’ involvement with their children’s mathematical learning. Data collection included parent interviews and a reflective journal maintained by the teacher-researcher. Findings indicated that the majority of parents felt they were more involved in their child’s learning of mathematics through the intervention. Furthermore, the participants noticed a number of benefits when using the picture books, including a greater understanding in children’s mathematics, the children having a greater motivation to do mathematics, and an increase in mathematical discussions.

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