Math is not everyone’s favorite subject, it is fair to say. In fact, the tension and worry that arise when attempting to solve a mathematical problem can be all-consuming for many people. This is referred to as math anxiety, and it can have a long-term negative impact on a person’s sense of worth.
It can be challenging for those who struggle with math anxiety to change their perspective from one of failure to one of success when it comes to working with numbers. For many people, math anxiety might therefore persist throughout their lives.
Yet, research indicates that if teachers address math anxiety in the classroom and encourage students to attempt to approach a problem differently, arithmetic anxiety can be reduced.
Carol Dweck, a psychology professor in the US, developed the notion of “mindset theory.” Dweck observed that people may frequently be divided into two groups: those who think they are incapable of changing because they are lousy at something and those who think they can.
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This served as the foundation for her mentality theory, according to which some people have a “fixed mindset,” which means they think their abilities are fixed and unchangeable. Some people, known as “growth-mindset” individuals, think they can modify and advance their skill over time with practice and effort.Jo Boaler, the British education author and professor of mathematics education, applied mindset theory to mathematics, subsequently naming her recommendations “mathematical mindsets”.
She has used this theory to encourage learners to develop a growth mindset in the context of mathematics. The idea is that the problems themselves can help to promote a growth mindset in pupils – without them having to think about their mindset intentionally.
