The Use of Animal Metaphors to Reveal Beliefs of Grade Three Namibian Learners Who Experienced Mathematics Learning Difficulties During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cloneria Nyambali Jatileni () and Shemunyenge Taleiko Hamukwaya
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Cloneria Nyambali Jatileni: University of Eastern Finland
Shemunyenge Taleiko Hamukwaya: University of Turku

Chapter Chapter 15 in Mathematics Education in Africa, 2022, pp 243-261 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter examines the use of animal metaphors to explore the beliefs of six grade three learners in a rural Namibian school. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The learners had been observed by their teacher and had been found to be experiencing difficulties in learning mathematics. The teacher, therefore, labelled the learners as experiencing mathematics learning difficulties (MLD) and believed they were not mathematically talented. The grade three learners had missed out on some essential basic mathematical competencies in the previous grades due to a lockdown during the pandemic, unplanned school closures, and the implementation of a rationalised syllabus/COVID-19 emergency curriculum. Using animal metaphors, a qualitative research method was used to collect data through semi-structured interviews and learners’ drawings. Findings revealed that learners associated mathematics with dangerous animals or situations, and they believed mathematics to be a difficult subject to learn. The learners’ beliefs indicated that they struggle to learn mathematics; however, all the learners considered knowledge of the subject an essential part of life.

Keywords: Mathematics; COVID-19; Animal metaphor; Beliefs; MLD; Learning difficulties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-031-13927-7_15

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-13927-7_15

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