Chinese (Mainland) teachers' views of effective mathematics teaching and learning

This study investigates Chinese teachers' cultural beliefs concerning effective mathematics teaching through semi-structured interview with nine experienced teachers. For the Chinese teachers, an effective teacher should always be passionate and committed to the teaching profession. She should not only understand the knowledge in the textbook thoroughly but also be able to carefully craft the knowledge from the textbook for teaching by predicting possible students' difficulties. Although Chinese teachers emphasize student participation and flexible teaching, they tend to see the teacher's ability to design and lead coherent lessons as the key for facilitating students' understanding. The result of this study helps researchers and educators understand the teacher-designed and content-oriented teaching model in Chinese classrooms.