{"id":8934,"date":"2022-07-29T16:48:31","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T16:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whizz-com.stackstaging.com\/math-anxiety\/"},"modified":"2022-09-19T21:34:23","modified_gmt":"2022-09-19T21:34:23","slug":"math-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whizz.com\/en-us\/blog\/math-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"Math anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Fiona Goddard explains why the next time a student exhibits listlessness, frustration and\/or anger in one of your math classes, it may be worth exploring whether their behavior might stem from something deeper\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cMath tends to be perceived as a subject where answers are strictly \u2018right\u2019 or \u2018wrong\u2019, which can breed a fear of failure\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Math anxiety is a negative, emotional reaction to mathematics. What distinguishes it from lack of engagement or boredom with math is that the latter relate more to the workings of the brain. The effects of math anxiety will depend on its severity, according to a spectrum.<\/p>\n

All of us will have likely experienced at least some degree of maths anxiety at some point \u2013 any occasion when we\u2019ve reacted to a math task in a negative way, which causes an emotional, almost bodily response within us that prevents us from taking on board new information or processing the task at hand.<\/p>\n

Comfort zone<\/h2>\n

The effects of math anxiety can easily go unnoticed by teachers, while manifesting in many different ways. You might perceive a pupil in your class to be poorly behaved, or observe them becoming angry or bursting into tears. Conversely, they could just as easily become extremely quiet and withdrawn.<\/p>\n

Given the degree to which its effects can vary, it can be hard to pinpoint what might constitute a case of maths anxiety and what doesn\u2019t. If there\u2019s any commonality to it, it\u2019s that math anxiety is rooted in a distinct feeling \u2013 a horrible sensation of feeling completely out of your comfort zone. How you react to that feeling will very much depend on you as an individual.<\/p>\n

The underlying causes of math anxiety can sometimes be rooted in early childhood, depending on how math was first introduced to you. Math is a progressive subject that\u2019s heavily dependent on learners being able to build on secure knowledge foundations. If, as can often happen, children develop significant gaps in their learning, some form of math anxiety may well manifest at a later stage. Without the prior mathematical knowledge they need to understand a particular area or concept, they\u2019ll have nothing to fall back on when questioned in a way which assumes that understanding.<\/p>\n

Math anxiety can also emerge from lived experience \u2013 perhaps a specific occasion when you were asked a question in class and didn\u2019t know the answer, resulting in your peers laughing at you, teasing, or some other form of mild humiliation.<\/p>\n

Fear of failure<\/h2>\n

Math tends to be perceived as a subject where answers are strictly \u2018right\u2019 or \u2018wrong\u2019, which can breed a fear of failure. Children naturally don\u2019t want to fail, dislike the feeling of failing and therefore don\u2019t want to be seen as failing, which can present in class as reticence or withdrawal.<\/p>\n

The most effective tool teachers have at their disposal for identifying and managing the effects of math anxiety is the knowledge they possess of their students and familiarity with their behaviours. There can be many small indicators of math anxiety \u2013 a reluctance to start work, spending too long on certain questions, homework that goes uncompleted \u2013 that could just as easily point to laziness on the part of students. Distinguishing one from the other can be difficult, but having a thorough knowledge of your students will always be a major help.<\/p>\n

Developing a whole school awareness of, and approach to math anxiety can go a long way towards tackling it, while also potentially addressing other issues. It could well be that a child\u2019s long-term behavioral issues might actually be related to math anxiety.<\/p>\n

Perpetuating the cycle<\/h2>\n

As teachers, how we convey our feelings towards maths and other subjects can profoundly influence how others see them. I once observed a teacher who admitted to their class, \u2018I\u2019m not very good at fractions.\u2019 By saying that, they immediately gave tacit approval for some of those students to develop an aversion to that particular area of math, or even math in general.<\/p>\n

How math is perceived and discussed is an issue that extends far beyond schools and out into wider society. It\u2019s not entirely clear why, but many seem to have no compunction about saying \u2018I can\u2019t do math,\u2019 whereas very few are prepared to admit they can\u2019t read or write. There\u2019s a broad social acceptance around rejecting or avoiding math that can make efforts at tackling math anxiety significantly harder.<\/p>\n

This often feeds into exchanges with parents concerning their children\u2019s progress in math. I can recall conversations I\u2019ve had with parents where I\u2019ve carefully broached the issue of them describing their own weaknesses in math to their children, and explained that all they\u2019re doing is essentially perpetuating the same cycle. The truth is, we can all succeed and do well at math.<\/p>\n

One way of remedying this can be to make elements of your math provision readily available to parents so that they can review it themselves before trying to support their children at home. If those parents are themselves affected by deep-rooted math anxiety, a useful form of support could be to set up parent\/child after-school math clubs (though the practicalities involved with this are naturally somewhat difficult at the present time).<\/p>\n

Curriculum concerns<\/h2>\n

It could be argued that the increased difficulty of the math curriculum in recent years has contributed to a rise in math anxiety. Schools and parents have been told that math expectations at every level have been raised compared to a decade ago, which will naturally feed into people\u2019s perceptions of math as being something that\u2019s already hard, and only getting harder.<\/p>\n

Math anxiety is also more likely to develop, grow and cause problems when students are left to work through things on their own. The use of peer-based and collaborative activities can help build a sense of confidence and culture of enquiry among students that keeps their anxieties at bay.<\/p>\n

That said, there may come a point with some children where the nature and intensity of their maths anxiety calls for some intervention. If their math anxiety is sufficiently severe, it will clearly show in their outcomes and rates of progress. In these instances, just the one-to-one itself \u2013 perhaps with a tutor or a support assistant \u2013 can result in a useful confidence boost.<\/p>\n

To do the most good, however, any such interventions will need to take a twofold approach. The first order of business will be to work out precisely where their learning gaps are, and how they can be best supported with those in order to get their progress back on track. Secondly, they should be provided with strategies on how to reduce their stress levels when their anxiety makes itself known.<\/p>\n

The process is almost akin to travelling in zones. Students are given a piece of work that feels familiar to them, as a result of which they\u2019ll feel comfortable and able to develop the confidence to work independently. The next step can be to introduce them to something new, but with support mechanisms in place \u2013 perhaps peer work. The way to confront math anxiety is to help students recognize those different zones, and what it is that specifically triggers their anxiety. With those identified, the process becomes one of devising strategies they can use to reduce stress and move beyond the anxiety they feel.<\/p>\n

About the author<\/h3>\n

Fiona Goddard is a senior education consultant at Whizz Education, developer of the Math-Whizz virtual math tutor; for more information, visit whizzeducation.com and whizz.com, or follow @MathsWhizzTutor<\/p>


<\/p>\n

Try this:<\/p>\n

Rather than focusing only on end results and final answers, try teaching lessons where the focus is instead on the workings, and the process of getting to those final answers.<\/p>\n

The levels of abstraction in math can sometimes result in very \u2018procedural\u2019 lessons that are hard for students to engage with. By using manipulatives, diagrams and clear representations that put math into a meaningful context, you can give the subject a greater sense of purpose that aids students\u2019 understanding.<\/p>\n

Sometimes we teachers just need to slow down. Think carefully about how your questions to the class are phrased, and allow students time to respond and reflect on the correct answers once they\u2019ve been revealed.<\/p>\n

Posing \u2018low entry questions\u2019 can do much to improve the confidence of students with anxiety; if they\u2019re able to think, \u2018Oh, I can answer that,\u2019 it can help build their resilience in class.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tClick here<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fiona Goddard explains why the next time a student exhibits listlessness, frustration and\/or anger in one of your math classes, it may be worth exploring whether their behavior might stem from something deeper\u2026 \u201cMath tends to be perceived as a subject where answers are strictly \u2018right\u2019 or \u2018wrong\u2019, which can breed a fear of failure\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whizz.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whizz.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whizz.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whizz.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whizz.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/whizz.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whizz.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whizz.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whizz.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whizz.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}