Background: Internationally, the teaching of division has noted that the use of sharing situations with sharing actions (one-by-one distribution) is the predominant division model at the beginning of schooling. In South Africa, research suggests a sharing situation with sharing actions is also preferred in the early grades. Aim: This paper aims to…

Background: Pre-service teachers (PSTs) training does not equip students with adequate skills and knowledge of geometry to enable them to teach this section of mathematics competently. Inadequate teacher knowledge of transformation geometry, in particular, requires intervention that targets PSTs' faulty reasoning displayed in errors they make.…

Background: The co-establishment of social and sociomathematical norms in the microculture of South African classrooms and its possible effects on early number learning has largely been unexplored. Social norms are considered to be general classroom norms that are relevant in any teaching and learning space, whilst sociomathematical norms are…

Background: The study focused on children with hearing disabilities, which was significant as almost 9 million children in sub-Saharan Africa, including Namibia, had hearing disabilities. The problem was the lack of prior research on the effects of assistive technology (AT) in primary education for the Deaf in Namibia, for guiding Namibian special…

Background: The learning of rational numbers is a complex and difficult process that begins in the early grades. This teaching often focuses on the mastery of essential knowledge, including particular skills (e.g. using fractions to describe part--whole diagrams) and interpretations (e.g. sharing), which often results in an incomplete and…

Background: The previous body of research literature has reported several separate cognitive processes relevant in solving mathematics wps. Therefore, it is of the essence to seek for effective intervention and instruction for students in need for support in learning. Aim: This article reports the outcome of an intervention targeted at mathematics…

Background: Workbooks were introduced by the South African Department of Basic Education (DBE) in 2011. Although the workbooks were designed as supplementary materials, in some schools they are used as the sole teaching text. Therefore, an analysis of the content coverage of the workbooks is warranted. This article provides such an analysis in…

Background: Given the context of low attainment in primary mathematics in South Africa, improving learners' understanding of multiplicative reasoning is important as it underpins much of later mathematics. Aim: Within a broader research programme aiming to improve Foundation Phase (Grades 1-3, 7-9-year-olds) learners' mathematical performance, the…

Background: There has been little Southern African research attention on the potentials of m-learning to support quality mathematics learning for young children and their caring adults. This article argues that m-learning research has shifted from claims of being promising to claims of effect in educational settings of both classrooms and homes.…

Background: Working structurally with patterns at foundation phase (FP) enhances habits of mind that advance early algebra at this early stage of mathematical learning. The South African curriculum proposes that learners work with and understand the logic of a pattern, but this important idea has largely been neglected in classroom texts and in…

In this article, we present aspects of teaching that draw attention to connections--both within and between examples--in order to explore the potential objects of learning that are brought into being in the classroom space and thus what is made available to learn. Our focus is on exploring differences in teaching over time, in the context of…

This article looks at writing tasks as a methodology to support learners' mathematical problem-solving strategies in the South African Foundation Phase context. It is a qualitative case study and explores the relation between the use of writing in mathematics and development of learners' problem-solving strategies and conceptual understanding. The…

In this article, Mason's 'discipline of noticing' is used to theorise a reflective process for changing mathematics teaching in a challenging context. The methodological approach was guided by critical reflective processes that produced, firstly, a descriptive 'account-of' an unsuccessful mathematics lesson, followed by layers of analyses drawing…

This study explored foundation phase first-year student teachers' perceptions about mathematics. The focus on their attitudes towards mathematics in two roles -- (1) as learners of mathematics, based on their prior experiences at school and (2) as aspirant teachers of mathematics for children in the early grades. Data sources were students'…

In this paper, I argue that the establishment of after-school mathematics clubs in early grades holds rich potential for supporting the development of increasingly participatory and sensemaking maths learning dispositions. Within the South African Numeracy Chair project, lead by the author, multiple after-school mathematics clubs have been set up…