Mathematics learning and teaching continues to
be a challenge in the South African education system. This
challenge is observed in the poor performance of students
in national and international assessments. Research sug￾gests that teachers’ content knowledge and knowledge of
teaching mathematics contribute significantly to students’
performance. In this paper, I explore educators’ under￾standing of counting concepts and how they go about
teaching 5- and 6-year-old children to count. A question￾naire using scenarios was administered to 17 educators in
the Eastern Cape to gauge their understanding of these
areas. A qualitative analysis was conducted and this was
followed by a thematic report. The findings of this study
indicate that teacher knowledge for teaching counting is
superficial. The building blocks that 5–6 year old students
need to develop counting skills are not fully understood by
educators. In addition, the educators demonstrated some
understanding of the role of assessment in mediating
learning but used assessment jargon without necessarily
comprehending its meaning.

J154

Perpustakaan FITK Pusat

Tersedia

• Teaching 5- and 6-Year-Olds to Count: Knowledge of South African Educators

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