Teachers’ belief in mathematics teaching: a case study of early childhood education teachers

Abstract

This article aims to analyze teachers belief in mathematics teaching. Furthermore, this article will be used as a reference for a professional development program that the researcher is going to develop. This research is a case study with five respondents in a city in West Java, Indonesia. Semi-structured interviews towards five respondents were conducted using an interview guideline that refers to the instrument The Mathematical Development Beliefs Survey. The thematic analysis was used for data processing in this research. The result of the research revealed all respondents agreed that mathematics is a substantial part of early childhood education curriculum, contributes to the confidence of the students, development activities could be carried out, and early childhood is ready for mathematics. However, they are unsure and less confident in teaching mathematics and basic math knowledge. This research suggests that professional programs given should aim to boost teachers belief in teaching mathematics.