Changes in Learners’ Perspectives on the Nature of Mathematics After Participating in a Mentorship Programme

Abstract

In this article, we report on findings from a study that explored perspectives of Grade 10–12 learners from two rural secondary schools in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa on the nature of mathematics prior to and at the end of a year-long mathematics mentorship programme. We use Ernest’s (1994) orientations about the nature of mathematics in order to make sense of the descriptions of participants’ mathematics classroom experiences before and after the mentoring programme. The analysis demonstrates shifts in perspectives which were characterised as positive. We account for these shifts by arguing that the nature of the mentorship programme led to positive shifts in learners’ perspectives on the nature of mathematics.

Keywords:

• Mentorship
• access
• mathematics
• teaching/learning
• reforms

Acknowledgements

This article draws on my doctoral research done at the Tshwane University of Technology supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARCHi) of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Research Foundation (grant no. 71218). Any opinions are those of the authors and the National Research Foundation does not accept any liability in this regard.