New research project at Paderborn University
Preschool teachers’ mathematics education skills are vital to ensure that children are able to develop a good foundation in mathematics before they begin school. One particularly important factor appears to be the ability to identify mathematics in everyday situations at a day care centre, for example in tablecloths or puzzles. The precise role that this situational observation and perception plays for the quality of mathematics promotion at day care centres is being examined over the course of this coming year as part of the ‘MasiK’ project, headed by Paderborn University in conjunction with Osnabrück University. The researchers involved are conducting an intervention study with preschool teachers from North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. The project has been awarded around half a million euros of funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG). It runs for a period of three years.
More effective education and training for preschool teachers
Experts are seeking to identify how situational perception abilities affect the correlation between mathematics-related knowledge and educational and didactic capabilities in preschool teachers working in early mathematics education. Professor Julia Bruns, the head of the project at Paderborn University, explains: ‘A better understanding of these correlations should enable more effective education and training opportunities to be developed for (prospective) preschool teachers, in order to promote children's mathematical development in early education. As well as providing theoretical insights, the results of this study could also be of practical relevance for the education and training of preschool teachers.’
The project begins in April, and the team expects to have initial results in the summer of 2025.
