Teaching pre-school Mathematics and influences by the kindergarten school social context: A preliminary study

Abstract

The empirical material of this preliminary study was drawn from the recording and analysis of teaching activities used during the implementation of the new pre-school Greek curriculum in sixteen classes of public kindergartens. More specifically, according to the opinion of the kindergarten teachers about the social backgrounds of the majority of their students, 8 kindergartens belonged in a middle-class social context and 8 in a working-class social context. Research findings showed variations in the pedagogical practices in those two types of kindergartens. Variations were observed in the choices made by pre-school teachers in the development of mathematical knowledge in the classroom, in the ways that teachers and students interact during the teaching process, in the organization of the classroom, and in the application of evaluative rules and teaching strategies for teaching mathematics.