Understanding the Role of Mathematical Anxiety, Disaffect and Emotion in Learning and Teaching the Subject of Mathematics : A Qualitative Study of Swedish Student Teachers’ Experiences and Feelings towards Mathematics Education

Abstract: Alongside the international consensus about the importance of mathematical competencies in today’s knowledge society, the awareness about children’s and adult’s mathematical anxiety has increased. Within this, relatively limited, field of research it has moreover been revealed that the level of mathematical anxiety is considerably higher among students within teacher education programs compared to other university students. Furthermore, the studies suggest that the anxiety of prospective teachers may influence their performance in the classroom and in turn their pupils’ perception of mathematics. In the case of Sweden, the PISA 2012 revealed a significant increase of mathematical anxiety among Swedish 15 year old pupils in the past ten years. With this background, the purpose of this study is to investigate prospective teachers’ feelings and experiences towards the subject of mathematics where the aim is to gain a deeper understanding about negative feelings, such as mathematical anxiety. Based on a qualitative research approach, including a survey with around 100 Swedish student teachers, interviews and a focus group session with a smaller group, the findings of the study have shown that the majority of the participants have in different ways experienced negative feelings towards mathematics. With support in poststructuralist theories, where emotions are viewed as a social construction, the study indicates that feelings emerge when students position themselves, or become positioned, within discursive practices. The concept of subjectivity was further used to gain a deeper understanding of students’ process in becoming a teacher.