Gilligan-Lee, Katie A;
Bradbury, Alice;
Bradley, Charlotte;
Farran, Emily K;
Van Herwegen, Jo;
Wyse, Dominic;
Outhwaite, Laura;
(2023)
Spatial Thinking in Practice: A Snapshot of teacher’s Spatial Activity Use in the Early Years’ Classroom.
Mind, Brain, and Education
10.1111/mbe.12352.
(In press).
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Abstract
Spatial thinking predicts Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics achievement, yet is often absent from educational policy. We provide benchmarks of teachers' usage and perceptions of spatial activities in practice in the reception classroom (first year of primary school). In this questionnaire study of educational professionals working in the reception classroom in England (N = 104), we found that spatial and numeracy activities were perceived as significantly less important, and were reportedly completed significantly less often, than literacy or life skills. Despite the lower perceived importance of spatial skills in curriculum guidance in England, rates of reported spatial activity use were encouragingly high and were broadly comparable to those of numeracy. Teachers had moderate anxiety levels for both spatial and mathematics domains. The findings highlight a need to elevate teachers' understanding of the importance of developing children's early spatial and numeracy skills, which may begin with efforts to reduce spatial and mathematics anxiety.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Spatial Thinking in Practice: A Snapshot of teacher’s Spatial Activity Use in the Early Years’ Classroom |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/mbe.12352 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12352 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2023 The Authors. Mind, Brain, and Education published by International Mind, Brain, and Education Society and Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Learning and Leadership UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Learning and Leadership > Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10167468 |
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