French preschool and primary teachers' attitude towards finger counting

Bibliographic Data

ID21283941
AuthorsCéline Poletti (0000-0002-1591-5225, University of Lausanne), Marie Krenger (University of Lausanne), Marie Létang, Céline Thévenot (0000-0002-4997-1882, corresponding author), Catherine Thevenot
Year2023
Volume241
Pages104079
Publication date2023-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueActa Psychologica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0001-6918 • E-ISSN: 1873-6297
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.104079
PMID37944267
OpenAlexW4388461703
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited24

Teachers' beliefs and attitudes are known to guide the type of activities they implement in their classrooms. A traditional conception that finger counting is merely a back-up when children fail to use more sophisticated and efficient strategies could therefore prevent teachers from encouraging children's use of fingers in arithmetic tasks. However, the potential benefit of finger counting for young learners has been recently documented and setting aside its practice within classrooms may hinder children's mathematical skill development. It is therefore important to establish whether there is a discrepancy between teacher's beliefs regarding finger counting and the latest discoveries in this field of research. To this aim, we interrogated 413 teachers from preschool to Grade 5. We found that, despite being generally positive towards finger counting, teachers think that finger counting is typical of children who present math difficulties or lack of confidence, even during the first years of learning. These results are discussed considering what is known and what remains to be determined in the current scientific literature

Aside · Developmental psychology · Linguistics · Mathematics education · School teachers · Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills · Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques · Psychology · Science Education and Pedagogy

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access