Differences between Canadian and Lebanese Pre-service Elementary Teachers on Their Conception of How Children Learn Mathematics

This study explores four-year elementary education students’ understanding of how children learn mathematics through the use of concept maps. Thirteen Canadian and 9 students from Lebanon participated in the study. Over a two-week period students were asked to reflect on how children learn mathematics. The Lebanese students were prone to produce conceptual structures that were more teacher-centered and curriculum oriented while their Canadians counterparts formed concept maps that were student-centered and cognitive based. Recommendations suggest that larger samples are studied in order to provide a better understanding of socio-cognitive reflections of how future teachers think teaching mathematics.