Students’ Perceptions of the Impacts of Parents, Teachers and Teaching upon their Anxiety about the Learning of Fractions

This paper reports on three of ten themes that emerged from a study of the impacts of a fraction teaching intervention on the mathematics anxiety and fraction competence of eight Year 8 students. Two of the themes that arose from the multiple data sources related to teachers and teaching and a third related to parental support. The students identified practical, hands-on activities and group work as impacting positively on their learning and their confidence in relation to fractions. The influence of parents, either positive or negative was also mentioned by several of the students. The study highlights the connections between mathematics anxiety among middle school students and the nature and extent of support that they perceive from teachers and parents.