Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Building A Community Of Christ In A Mathematics Classroom, Robert Bonner

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

The prevalence of mathematics anxiety and math phobia is an accepted phenomenon in our culture today (Boaler, 2013; Kimball & Smith, 2013). Multiple research studies have been conducted investigating the levels of mathematics anxiety present in both preservice and in-service elementary education teachers (Bekdemir, 2010; Mizala, Martínez, & Martínez, 2015). This article describes how the creation of a learning community within a two-course sequence of mathematics content courses for elementary teachers addressed the fears and anxieties of a cohort of prospective female teachers. The learning community was founded on three perspectives: Palmer’s (1989) community of truth, Paul’s description of the …