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Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education (2023) 26:5–26
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-021-09517-0
1 3
Australian primary schoolteachers’ perceived barriers
toandenablers fortheintegration ofchildren’s literature
inmathematics teaching andlearning
SharynLivy1 · TraceyMuir2 · NatthapojVincentTrakulphadetkrai3 ·
KevinLarkin4
Accepted: 7 September 2021 / Published online: 24 September 2021
© The Author(s) 2021
Abstract
This qualitative survey study set out to investigate in-service and pre-service primary
school teachers’ perceived barriers to and enablers for the integration of children’s liter-
ature in mathematics teaching and learning in an Australian educational context. While
research over the past three decades have documented pedagogical benefits of teaching
mathematics using children’s literature, research into teachers’ perceptions regarding the
use of such resources is virtually non-existent. The study thus filled this research gap by
drawing responses from open-ended survey questions of 94 in-service and 82 pre-service
teachers in Australia. A thematic analysis revealed 13 perceived barriers classified under
five themes with Lack of Pedagogical Knowledge and Confidence, and Time Constraint,
representing 75% of all perceived barriers. Moreover, 14 perceived enablers were identified
and classified under five themes with Pedagogical Benefits and Love of Stories represent-
ing around 70% of all perceived enablers. Findings also showed that most of the teachers in
the study (around 75%) never or infrequently used children’s literature in their mathemat-
ics classrooms. The study highlights the role of professional learning and teacher training
in ensuring that both in- and pre-service teachers have the necessary pedagogical knowl-
edge, experience and confidence in using children’s literature to enrich their mathematics
teaching.
Keywords Children’s literature· Story picture books· Mathematics learning and teaching·
Teachers’ perceptions· Mathematics teacher education
Introduction
The notion of using children’s literature, particularly story picture books, to teach math-
ematics is well established (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 1992,
2004, 2018). There is general consensus in the literature that there are many benefits asso-
ciated with using story picture books to teach mathematical concepts and skills, including
* Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai
n.trakulphadetkrai@reading.ac.uk
Extended author information available on the last page of the article
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6
S.Livy et al.
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the facilitation of mathematical language and communication (e.g., Capraro & Capraro,
2006; Edelman et al., 2019; Stites et al., 2020). Story picture books have the potential
to motivate children, stimulate interest, provide a context for using mathematics to solve
problems (NCTM, 2018), to develop mathematical skills, and to explore and investigate
mathematical concepts (e.g., Rogers etal., 2015). In order for these benefits to be realised
in the classroom, the use of children’s literature as a pedagogical approach needs to be
adopted by schools and teachers.1 There is thus the need to understand teachers’ beliefs
towards the integration of children’s literature with mathematics as these in turn will influ-
ence the uptake and appropriate implementation of using children’s literature as a math-
ematical pedagogical practice.
This paper reports the findings from a qualitative study that investigated the beliefs of
Australian, primary school in-service teachers (ISTs) and pre-service teachers (PSTs) con-
cerning the integration of children’s literature in their mathematics teaching. This study is
part of an international study that examined the same beliefs as espoused by both ISTs and
PSTs in different countries, e.g., Ireland (Prendergast etal., 2019) and Malta (Farrugia &
Trakulphadetkrai, 2020). Investigation into Australian ISTs’ and PSTs’ beliefs in relation
to the use of children’s literature to teach mathematics is warranted as educational findings
in different countries are not necessarily applicable to the Australian context, and ISTs’
experiences and beliefs are not necessarily the same as those held by PSTs. In addition, the
study aligns with the aims of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics (ACARA, 2018),
which include the recognition of connections between areas of mathematics and other dis-
ciplines, and the appreciation of mathematics as an accessible and enjoyable discipline to
study. As previously noted, children’s literature can provide opportunities to investigate
concepts in contexts that children can personally relate to and can promote creative com-
munication of mathematics, which are also the primary aims of Australia’s Mathematics
Curriculum.
Literature review
Children’s literature andmathematics
Story picture books, which are a form of children’s literature, offer a rich source of oppor-
tunities to develop mathematical concepts, particularly for young children (e.g., Anderson
etal., 2005; van den Heuvel-Panhuisen & van den Boogard, 2008). According to Marston
(2014), mathematical story picture books, or story picture books that can be used to enrich
mathematics teaching and learning, can be broadly classified as one of the following three
types: perceived—books written to entertain with mathematical concepts found uninten-
tionally and incidentally; explicit—books with mathematical concepts explicitly referenced
within the text (e.g., counting books); and embedded—books written to entertain with pur-
posefully embedded mathematical ideas.
Integrating mathematical content through taking mathematical concepts and incorpo-
rating them into narrative has been shown to be successful in communicating and retain-
ing mathematical knowledge (Moyer, 2000). Other benefits identified in a review of 21
1 In this article, where we use the term teachers, we are referring to both in-service teachers (ISTs) and pre-
service teachers (PSTs).
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Australian primary schoolteachers’ perceived barriers to…
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studies on the effects of using children’s literature to teach K-6 mathematics (NCTM, 2018)
included: improved mathematics achievement; heightened interest in, and positive attitudes
towards, mathematics; increased engagement of children in mathematical discourse; a
wider range of meaningful contexts for learning mathematics; deepened conceptual under-
standing, and increased mathematical confidence. Illustrations found in picture books can
also be useful in supporting the visualisation of mathematical concepts and the linking of
oral, written and pictorial representations (NCTM, 2018). Moreover, Hassinger-Das etal.
(2015) and Purpura etal. (2017) also report on the positive impact of using mathematical
stories in aiding children’s language development, particularly their vocabulary knowledge.
This is crucial as Trakulphadetkrai etal. (2020) found that children’s mathematical ability
and language ability are closely linked.
It is important to consider that these are potential benefits and, as with any other peda-
gogical tool, story picture books may be interpreted and implemented in ways which limit
their impact. Sometimes teachers might superficially link a story picture book with a topic
they are teaching (Russo & Russo, 2018). Similarly, not all story picture books are appro-
priate for teaching mathematical concepts and may even lead to children developing mis-
conceptions (Flevares & Schiff, 2014; Nurnberger-Haag, 2017). There is also no guarantee
that mathematical concepts are accurately or appropriately developed (Bintz etal., 2011) or
that the teacher can recognise when this is not the case (Muir etal., 2017).
Use ofchildren’s literature inmathematics teaching
Much of the research conducted into the use of children’s literature in mathematics class-
rooms has focused on the implementation of lessons (e.g., Edelman, 2017; Halsey, 2005),
impact on student achievement (e.g., Hong, 1996; Kisker etal., 2012), or use in early years
classrooms (e.g., An etal., 2019; Casey etal., 2004). Some of these studies have involved
PSTs e.g., An etal.’s (2019) study which investigated how PSTs could creatively generate
mathematically focused stories for young children. As with other PST-related studies (e.g.,
Edelman, 2017), the studies and findings were linked with PSTs’ knowledge, rather than
their beliefs.
While the aforementioned studies espouse the benefits of integrating children’s lit-
erature with mathematics, this integration has not necessarily been effectively enacted in
classrooms (NCTM, 2018). It may be that some teachers are not convinced of the merits
in implementing initiatives that they had not previously considered (Predergast & Treacy,
2018), or are reluctant to adopt new practices, as is often the case with educational change
initiatives (Fullan, 2015). Teachers’ perceptions of the need to change is an influential fac-
tor in the success of any reform or innovation (Fullan, 2015) and change is likely to occur
as a result in shifts in teachers’ pre-existing knowledge and beliefs (e.g., Guskey, 1985;
Thompson, 1992). Studies that examine the influence that teachers’ beliefs have on their
uptake of using children’s literature to teach mathematical concepts may therefore provide
insights into why this uptake is not more widespread.
There is a limited body of research that connects teachers’ beliefs to the use of chil-
dren’s literature in the teaching of mathematics (e.g., Cotti & Schiro, 2004; Farrugia &
Trakulphadetkrai, 2020; Prendergast etal., 2019). In Cotti and Schiro’s (2004) study, they
created a Mathematics and Children’s Literature Belief Inventory to facilitate teachers’
understanding of their own ideological positions and those of other teachers. The inventory
assisted teachers with identifying which one of four ideological orientations (i.e., Scholar
Academic, Social Efficiency, Child Study, and Social Reconstruction) primarily influenced
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S.Livy et al.
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their approaches to both teaching and learning and the use of children’s literature in the
mathematics classroom. The study’s deductive approach, whereby orientations and beliefs
came from a review of literature only, points to a gap in the research field for other studies
to consider additional aspects generated through the use of participant data.
Previous studies conducted by the current study’s third author (Farrugia & Trakul-
phadetkrai, 2020; Prendergast et al., 2019) investigated perceived barriers to, and ena-
blers for, the integration of children’s literature in mathematics classrooms in Ireland and
Malta. The studies adopted an inductive approach allowing teachers’ beliefs concern-
ing the use of children’s literature in mathematics teaching and learning to emerge from
open-ended survey data. Similar perceived barriers were found across these two studies
e.g., resource constraint, time constraint, lack of pedagogical knowledge and confidence,
doubts about outcome expectancy and inhibiting social norms. Moreover, similar perceived
enablers were also found across the two studies, e.g., perceived pedagogical benefits, ena-
bling social norms, and love of children’s literature. Interestingly, the studies’ contextual
data also revealed that over 90% and 80% of teachers in Ireland and Malta, respectively,
reported that they had either never used children’s literature in their mathematics teaching
or had done so infrequently (i.e., 10 mathematics lessons or less a year). This study will
seek to determine whether Australian ISTs and PSTs hold similar beliefs and pedagogical
approaches to their Irish and Maltese counterparts.
In summary, the reviewed literature points to a general consensus regarding the benefits
of using children’s literature to teach mathematical concepts. Despite these identified ben-
efits, there remains limited uptake by teachers in the widespread adoption of children’s lit-
erature as a mathematical pedagogical approach. It is hypothesised that this limited adop-
tion is likely due to a variety of factors, including the beliefs held by teachers of the value
of such an approach. This study aims to investigate teachers’ perceived barriers to, and
enablers for, the integration of children’s literature in mathematics teaching. Through iden-
tifying these factors, we will be better placed to direct resources and professional learning
into overcoming barriers to implementation of the approach, which has been shown to be
beneficial for learning mathematical concepts and developing positive mathematical dispo-
sitions (Marston, 2014).
Theoretical framework
Teachers have a knowledge base for teaching, such as knowledge of content, pedagogical
knowledge and knowledge of learners (Shulman, 1987). A teacher’s foundation knowledge
includes knowledge of their own mathematical knowledge (content) and knowledge of ped-
agogical approaches and their beliefs (Rowland etal., 2009). A teacher’s beliefs influence
how they teach mathematics (Thompson, 1992) and can include beliefs related to why and
how mathematics is learnt (Rowland etal., 2009). These beliefs about mathematics influ-
ence their teaching (Thompson, 1984) and include their planned behaviour and practices
for integrating children’s literature in mathematics teaching and learning. Others agree that
different factors can influence improvement in approaches to teaching mathematics includ-
ing teachers’ interests, beliefs, emotions, knowledge and practice as well as other stake-
holder’s interest (Kieran etal., 2013).
To allow us to better understand teachers’ beliefs, the current study adopted Ajzen’s
(1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as its underpinning theory. TPB was developed
to predict and understand behaviour including perceived barriers and enablers regarding
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Australian primary schoolteachers’ perceived barriers to…
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someone’s beliefs. The following three factors can be used to predict a person’s behaviour
that is either an enabler of, or barrier to, change. Firstly, Attitude toward the behaviour is
a personal evaluation of the behaviour in question and this can be favourable or unfavour-
able (Ajzen, 2020). In the context of this study, teachers may or may not believe that story
picture books can assist children’s engagement with their mathematical learning. Secondly,
Perceived behavioural control is when a person’s beliefs are influenced by factors, such as
time, money, assistance from other people that either assist or hinder behaviour (Ajzen,
2020). Finally, Subjective norm is when a person’s beliefs are influenced by perceived pres-
sure to perform or not to perform a behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). In any given school, the prin-
cipal or parents may influence a teacher’s beliefs because they approve or disapprove of a
behaviour (Ajzen, 2020).
The current study
Drawing from the research gaps identified, the study aims to analyse and report on Austral-
ian ISTs’ and PSTs’ perceived barriers to and enablers for the integration of children’s lit-
erature in mathematics teaching. The purpose of our study will be to inform and guide the
knowledge of teacher educators and teacher training agencies. In summary, the study set
out to address the following specific research question: What do ISTs and PSTs in Australia
perceive to be key barriers to, and enablers for, the integration of children’s literature in
mathematics teaching and learning?
Methods
Sample
Using convenience sampling, Authors 1, 2 and 4 invited PSTs from three large universities
in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania to complete the survey. The survey link was pro-
vided via an announcement on the university Learning Management System (LMS). Using
snowball sampling, ISTs were invited to complete the survey either via social media or
via e-mailing primary schoolteachers that were acquaintances. ISTs were also encouraged
to invite other colleagues to complete the survey. This approach ensured a wide-ranging
demographic of teachers Australia-wide. This sampling strategy, however, means that it is
impossible to indicate a specific response rate. In total, 176 survey participants responded,
consisting of 94 ISTs and 82 PSTs.
Characteristics ofthesurvey participants
As Table1 illustrates, there were significantly more female than male teachers within each
cohort, a common trend in the primary school sector in Australia where females comprise
more than 80% of teaching staff in primary schools (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2020).
Teachers from across all eight states and territories completed the survey. ISTs of the dif-
ferent age groups (4–12years old) were well represented with a slightly higher number of
ISTs teaching Year 2 or Year 3 classes (6–8years old children). Around 65% of the ISTs in
the study indicated that they had 20years of teaching experience or less.
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S.Livy et al.
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When ISTs were asked how frequently they had incorporated children’s literature as part
of their mathematics teaching in the current academic year, nearly 80% responded that they
had either never used children’s literature in their mathematics teaching or had used but
infrequently (i.e. 10 mathematics lessons or less per school year). Only 30% of ISTs and
2.4% of PSTs reported that they have used children’s literature frequently in their math-
ematics teaching (i.e. 10 + lessons). Concerning the latter, it is perhaps to be expected as
they have had far fewer opportunities to do so than ISTs. When asked whether they had
Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the survey participants (N = 176)
Total
(N = 176)
In-service teachers
(ISTs)
(N = 94)
Pre-service teachers
(PSTs)
(N = 82)
Characteristics n (%) n (%) n (%)
Sex
Male 30 (17%) 15 (16%) 15 (18.3%)
Female 146 (83%) 79 (84%) 67 (81.7%)
Location
New South Wales 11 (6.3%) 11 (11.7%) 0 (0%)
Queensland 37 (21%) 5 (5.3%) 32 (39%)
Tasmania 10 (5.7%) 4 (4.3%) 6 (7.3%)
Victoria 109 (62%) 67 (71.3%) 42 (51.2%)
Others (i.e. Australian Capital Territory, Northern
Territory, South Australia and Western Aus-
tralia)
9 (5.1%) 7 (7.4%) 2 (2.4%)
Class taught
Foundation–Year 1 (4–6years old) 25 (14.2%) 12 (12.8%) 13 (15.9%)
Year 2–Year 3 (6–8years old) 47 (26.7%) 26 (27.7%) 21 (25.6%)
Year 4–Year 5 (8–10years old) 33 (18.8%) 21 (22.3%) 12 (14.6%)
Year 6–Year 7 (10–12years old) 38 (21.6%) 17 (18.1%) 21 (25.6%)
A wide range of class levels 27 (15.3%) 16 (17%) 11 (13.4%)
Not indicated 6 (3.4%) 2 (2.1%) 4 (4.9%)
Teaching experience level (years)
1–10 n/a 31 (33) n/a
11–20 n/a 30 (32) n/a
21–30 n/a 16 (17) n/a
> 30 n/a 17 (18) n/a
Whether training on using children’s literature in mathematics teaching is/was provided as part of
teacher training
Yes 72 (41%) 28 (29.8%) 44 (53.7%)
No 89 (50.6%) 51 (54.3%) 38 (46.3%)
Cannot remember—too long ago 15 (8.5%) 15 (16%) n/a
Frequency of using children’s literature in mathematics teaching within the current academic year
Never 67 (38.1%) 17 (18.1%) 50 (61%)
Infrequently (1–10 lessons) 65 (37%) 41 (43.6%) 24 (29.3%)
Frequently (> 10 lessons) 32 (18.2%) 30 (31.9%) 2 (2.4%)
Not indicated 12 (6.8%) 6 (6.4%) 6 (7.3%)
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Australian primary schoolteachers’ perceived barriers to…
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received any training on using children’s literature in mathematics teaching as part of their
teacher training education, around a third of ISTs (29.8%) reported that they had receiv-
ing training, whereas more than half of the PSTs (53.7%) reported that such training was
provided.
Data collection
The data were collected via an online open-ended survey. The survey contained four key
sections: the first section asked the participants to define and give examples of children’s
literature; the second section asked the participants to write the first five thoughts that
come to mind when they think about ‘the integration of children’s literature in mathematics
teaching and learning’; the third section contained eight questions relating to their expe-
rience (if any) of integrating children’s literature; and the fourth and final section asked
contextual information about the participants (see Table1). This survey was developed and
piloted by Trakulphadetkrai (2015) with the English sample and subsequently developed
further with the Irish sample (Prendergast etal., 2019) and the Maltese sample (Farrugia &
Trakulphadetkrai, 2020).
The data reported in this paper were drawn from the participants’ responses to the fol-
lowing two questions in the third section of the survey: (1) ‘In your experience, what are
the key barriers that stop you from incorporating (more) children’s literature in your math-
ematics teaching?’ and (2) ‘If you have previously incorporated children’s literature in your
mathematics teaching, what enabled / encouraged you to do so?’.
All three authors in Australia obtained ethical approval from their respective institutions
to conduct the research.
Data analysis
During the data preparation stage, any written responses that were vague, ambiguous,
or not specifically relevant to either perceived barriers or enablers were discarded (e.g.,
“Many children have demonstrated their interests towards mathematics as basic mathemat-
ics knowledge and skills are embedded in most early childhood centre’s curriculum.”).
The open-ended survey data were then analysed thematically and inductively using the
constant comparative method (Lincoln & Cuba, 1985). Specifically, the focus was first on
identifying “categories”, so that similar categories could then be grouped together into a
set of coherent themes. For example, these three categories – Limited or lack of awareness
of suitable children’s literature for specific mathematical concepts or age groups; Limited
or lack of awareness / knowledge / experience / training in the approach, and Perceived
difficulty and/or fear in implementing the approach—were later grouped together under
a theme, labelled Lack of Pedagogical Knowledge and Confidence. To capture how often
each of these categories was mentioned by the survey respondents, descriptive statistics
were used. Survey respondents were able to state more than one perceived barrier and ena-
bler, but any beliefs repeated by the same respondents were not counted twice.
Each category itself was made up of teachers’ responses relevant to that particular cat-
egory. For example, the Limited or lack of awareness/knowledge/experience/training in the
approach category was made up of teachers’ responses, such as “I do not have the specific
understanding of how to effectively and seamlessly integrate children’s literature into my
maths teaching” and “Lack of understanding of how to integrate it”. This stage of analysis
was achieved through several rounds of reading and re-reading the responses. It is also
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S.Livy et al.
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worth noting that, in a few cases, more than one category could be found in single sen-
tences. For example, an IST wrote: “Too much on the timetable to consider and did not
have the time to search for literature that matched the topics.” Through the process of mod-
eration, it was agreed that the first part of the sentence would be coded as the Curriculum
pressure category and the second part of the sentence would be coded as the Limited or
lack of time to search for suitable children’s literature category. In brief, the unit of analy-
sis was thus not necessarily always at the sentence level, and could be made up of a cluster
of words within a sentence.
To ensure the coding reliability, the main coder (Author 3) coded all the data and his
coding was then moderated by the other three authors—each of whom moderated a third of
the entire dataset. Due to the nature of the data being open-ended and non-binary, instead
of the Cohen’s kappa coefficient, the inter-coder agreement percentage was calculated. The
inter-coder agreement percentages for the perceived barriers and enablers were relatively
high (90.2% and 86.1% respectively), highlighting that the coding frameworks that we have
developed for this study’s analysis were reliable. That said, we fully acknowledge that the
key drawback of reporting inter-coder agreement percentages is how agreement that could
have happened by chance was not taken into account, so those interpreting our reported
inter-coder agreement percentages should bear this in mind. Any disagreements in coding
were subsequently discussed until coding agreement was reached.
Results
Perceived barriers
In total, 169 of the 176 teachers responded to the following survey question: ‘In your expe-
rience, what are the key barriers that stop you from incorporating (more) children’s litera-
ture in your mathematics teaching?’ These included teachers who reported having never
incorporated children’s literature in their mathematics teaching and those who have had
some experience. Of these 169 teachers, 90 were ISTs and 79 were PSTs. As each respond-
ent was allowed to state more than one perceived barrier, the total number of coding occur-
rences on perceived barriers (N = 200) is higher than the number of survey respondents
(N = 169). These 200 coding occurrences excluded the 12 coding occurrences that the cod-
ers identified as No perceived barriers (e.g., “None”).
From the thematic coding analysis, 13 perceived barriers were identified and grouped
under five themes, namely Lack of Pedagogical Knowledge and Confidence, Time Con-
straint, Resource Constraint, Inhibiting Social Norms and Doubts about Outcome Expec-
tancy (see Table2).
Theme 1, Lack of Pedagogical Knowledge and Confidence, is made up of three catego-
ries and they collectively account for almost half (48.5%) of all the coding occurrences on
perceived barriers, making it the most predominant cluster of perceived barriers for the
teachers in this study. The first of these categories, Limited or lack of awareness of suitable
children’s literature for specific mathematical concepts or age groups, alone accounts for
almost a third of all coding occurrences (31.5%). This is followed by Limited or lack of
awareness / knowledge / experience / training in the approach (15.5%) and Perceived dif-
ficulty and/or fear in implementing the approach (1.5%). Overall, this first theme orients us
towards the importance of training as one possible source for the knowledge these teachers
believed to be lacking.
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Australian primary schoolteachers’ perceived barriers to…
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Table 2 Survey responses concerning perceived barriers to the integration of children’s literature in math-
ematics teaching
Categories Examples of statement Total
(N = 169/176)
In-service
teachers
(ISTs)
(N = 90/94)
Pre-service
teachers
(PSTs)
(N = 79/82)
ƒ*
(%)
ƒ*
(%)
ƒ*
(%)
Theme 1: lack of pedagogical knowledge and confidence (48.5%)
1 Limited or lack of aware-
ness of suitable children’s
literature for specific
mathematical concepts or
age groups
“Not knowing good examples
of texts to use for the dif-
ferent topics—not having a
built-up database.”
63
(31.5%)
33
(32%)
30
(30.9%)
2 Limited or lack of
awareness / knowledge /
experience / training in the
approach
“I do not have the specific
understanding of how to
effectively and seamlessly
integrate children’s literature
into my maths teaching.”
31
(15.5%)
6
(5.8%)
25
(25.8%)
3 Perceived difficulty and/or
fear in implementing the
approach
“Generally fearful of taking
a risk with something like
mathematics, that must be
taught so explicitly.”
3
(1.5%)
0
(0%)
3
(3.1%)
Theme 2: time constraint (26.5%)
4 Limited or lack of time to
search for suitable chil-
dren’s literature
“Time looking for good story-
books with a mathematical
connection.”
20
(10%)
16
(15.5%)
4
(4.1%)
5 Limited or lack of time
(unspecified)
“Limited time.” 14
(7%)
9
(8.7%)
5
(5.2%)
6 Curriculum pressure “So much content to cover—
often little time to reinforce
concepts in an overarching
manner; often little time to
give contextual problem-
solving opportunities for
reinforcing mathematical
concepts.”
10
(5%)
3
(2.9%)
7
(7.2%)
7 Limited or lack of time to
plan for lessons using this
approach
“The time it takes to mean-
ingfully plan lessons or
units around the key ideas/
messages in a text can be a
limitation.”
5
(2.5%)
2
(1.9%)
3
(3.1%)
8 Limited or lack of time
to read a story during the
lesson
“If time was running short in
a lesson the stories would be
cut out.”
4
(2%)
4
(3.9%)
0
(0%)
Theme 3: resource constraint (15%)
9 Limited or lack of suitable
children’s literature at
school
“I struggle to find books in my
school that were available for
the topics I was teaching e.g.,
two-digit addition and time.”
30
(15%)
23
(22.3%)
7
(7.2%)
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S.Livy et al.
1 3
The bolden numbers are essentially the sums
*ƒ is here taken to refer to the number of teachers who mentioned a particular belief. Beliefs repeated by
the same teacher were not counted twice. Participants were able to state more than one perceived barrier,
explaining why the total number of ƒ (200) exceeded the total number of teachers who responded to this
survey question (169)
Table 2 (continued)
Categories Examples of statement Total
(N = 169/176)
In-service
teachers
(ISTs)
(N = 90/94)
Pre-service
teachers
(PSTs)
(N = 79/82)
ƒ*
(%)
ƒ*
(%)
ƒ*
(%)
Theme 4: inhibiting social norms (6%)
10 Perceived unwillingness
of key stakeholders (e.g.,
school leaders, mentors,
parents) for this approach
to be trialled
“In my own classroom, I would
feel very comfortable incor-
porating children’s literature
in my Maths teaching. I find
being out on Prac [teaching
placement] though is very
limiting if the teacher [men-
tor] isn’t willing and open
to change and trial in the
classroom. Totally inflexible
teacher not willing to allow
me to try anything outside
her teaching repertoire.”
12
(6%)
3
(2.9%)
9
(9.3%)
Theme 5: doubts about outcome expectancy (4%)
11 Perceived unsuitability of
the approach for children
of certain age groups
“I am unsure if this strategy
would be as appropriate for
upper primary as it is for
lower primary.”
3
(1.5%)
0
(0%)
3
(3.1%)
12 Perceived limitation of
the approach in catering for
different learning needs
“Some young children strug-
gle significantly with […]
reading.”
3
(1.5%)
2
(1.9%)
1
(1%)
13 Perceived incompat-
ibility between children’s
literature and mathematics
teaching
“Teaching can be a bit ‘siloed’.
At times when teaching
using a book I felt a bit torn
when students would pick
up something they were
interested in […] but I had
prepared a lesson on estimat-
ing and counting plastic toys
in a big jar.”
2
(1%)
2
(1.9%)
0
(0%)
Total (ƒ) 200 103 97
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15
Australian primary schoolteachers’ perceived barriers to…
1 3
The second most predominant theme is Time Constraint which accounts for nearly a
third of all coding occurrences on perceived barriers (26.5%). The theme is made up of five
categories: Limited or lack of time to search for suitable children’s literature (10%); Cur-
riculum pressure (5%) which is concerned with the belief that the overcrowded mathemat-
ics curriculum somehow means teachers cannot afford to spend time teaching mathematics
using children’s literature; Limited or lack of time to plan for lessons using this approach
(2.5%), and Limited or lack of time to read a story during the lesson (2%). Moreover, a
number of teachers also indicated limited or lack of time as a barrier but did not specify the
impact of that lack of time. Instead of disregarding these responses as ambiguous, a deci-
sion was made as part of the moderation process to retain them under the Limited or lack of
time (unspecified) category (7%).
Theme 3, Resource Constraint (15%) is made up of only one category, Limited or lack
of suitable children’s literature at school. Even if teachers were aware of the wide range of
children’s literature that could be used for mathematics teaching, it would not mean much
if their schools’ library do not have such books and/or they cannot access the stories online.
Theme 4, Inhibiting Social Norms, accounts for 6% of all the coding occurrences on
perceived barriers and its presence provides a useful contrast to Enabling Social Norms,
one of the Perceived Enablers themes to be discussed in the following section. The one
category that makes up this theme is Perceived unwillingness of key stakeholders for this
approach to be trialled where teachers believed that their attempt to incorporate children’s
literature in their mathematics teaching would not be received positively by, for example,
their principal, teaching colleagues or parents. More PSTs (9.3%) cited this perceived bar-
rier as compared to ISTs (2.9%). Arguably, this highlights the potential power dynamic at
play between PSTs and other stakeholders at school during their teaching placement (e.g.,
their mentors, school leaders, etc.), and how PSTs may be overly concerned by what such
stakeholders think about their teaching methods.
The fifth and final theme, Doubts about Outcome Expectancy (4%), is concerned with
teachers’ perceptions that question the effectiveness and suitability of the approach. The
theme is made up of three types of doubts, i.e. Perceived unsuitability of the approach
for children of certain age groups (1.5%) where some teachers perceived the use of chil-
dren’s literature in mathematics teaching to be suitable for only very young children; Per-
ceived limitation of the approach in catering for different learning needs (1.5%) where
some teachers cited how the use of children’s literature in mathematics teaching could be
problematic for some children, for example, those with language difficulties; and Perceived
incompatibility between children’s literature and mathematics teaching (1%) where some
teachers believed in the separation of mathematics and literacy as two separate subjects.
The three most-cited categories combined account for over 60% of all the coding on
perceived barriers, and these categories are: Limited or lack of awareness of suitable chil-
dren’s literature for specific mathematical concepts or age groups (31.5%); Limited or
lack of awareness/knowledge/experience/training in the approach (15.5%); and Limited or
lack of suitable children’s literature at school (15%). Approaches that can address each of
these key perceived barriers as part of teacher training will be discussed in the Discussion
section.
When examining the differences between ISTs’ and PSTs’ responses, a higher propor-
tion of ISTs (22.3%) cited the Limited or lack of suitable children’s literature at school
category as a key barrier when compared with PSTs (7.2%). The opposite was true for
the Limited or lack of awareness / knowledge / experience / training in the approach cate-
gory where more PSTs (25.8%) proportionally cited this barrier when compared with ISTs
(5.8%). Finally, ISTs appeared to be more sensitive to time constraints citing Limited or
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16
S.Livy et al.
1 3
lack of time to search for suitable children’s literature (22.3%) as a key barrier when com-
pared with PSTs (7.2%).
Perceived enablers
In total, 118 of the 176 teachers responded to the following survey question: ‘If you have
previously incorporated children’s literature in your mathematics teaching, what enabled
/ encouraged you to do so?’. Of these 118 teachers, 81 were ISTs and 37 were PSTs. The
substantial drop in PSTs’ response to this question could be attributed to their limited
teaching opportunities in classrooms. Again, as each teacher was allowed to state more
than one perceived enabler, the total number of coding occurrences on perceived enablers
(N = 155) is higher than the number of survey respondents (N = 118).
From the thematic coding analysis, 14 perceived enablers were identified and grouped
into six themes, namely Perceived Pedagogical Benefits, Love of Stories, Desire to Improve
Teaching, Knowledge of the Approach, Enabling Social Norms, and Availability of
Resources (see Table3).
The first theme, Perceived Pedagogical Benefits, is made up of six categories, and
they collectively accounted for 57.4% of all coding on perceived enablers, making it the
most predominant cluster of perceived enablers for the teachers in this study. To avoid any
unnecessary repetition here, these six categories can be found in Table3. Of particular
importance are the first two categories which collectively account for nearly 50% of all the
coding on perceived enablers: Encouraged and inspired by teacher’s own perception that
teaching mathematics through children’s literature makes the teaching more engaging and
fun (31%) and Encouraged and inspired by teacher’s own perception that teaching math-
ematics through children’s literature helps children to apply and make meaningful connec-
tions between their mathematics learning and their everyday life (14.8%).
Feeling encouraged and inspired by both teachers’ and children’s love of stories makes
up the second theme, Love of Stories, which accounts for 11.7% of all coding occurrences
on perceived enablers.
Theme 3, Desire to Improve Teaching, is made up of two categories: Encouraged and
inspired by teacher’s own belief in the value of cross-curricular teaching (9%) and Encour-
aged and inspired by teacher’s own desire to try new methods of teaching mathematics
(1.9%). This theme is concerned with teachers whose main desire is to seek ways to help
them improve their mathematics teaching and, if using children’s literature could help them
achieve that goal, then they would choose this approach.
Accounting for 9.6% of all coding occurrences on perceived enablers, Theme 4, Knowl-
edge of the Approach, is also made up of two categories: Encouraged and inspired by train-
ing from lecturer at college and other forms of professional development training (7.7%)
and Encouraged and inspired by teacher’s own awareness of children’s literature that are
appropriate for mathematics teaching (1.9%). This theme is concerned with teachers who
would use children’s literature in their mathematics teaching if they knew how, highlight-
ing the importance of training, both professional learning and initial teacher education, for
ISTs and PSTs, respectively.
Theme 5, Enabling Social Norms, accounts for 7.1% of all the coding on perceived ena-
blers, and is made up of one category Encouraged and inspired by key stakeholders. In
the context of this theme, teachers would be encouraged to teach mathematics using chil-
dren’s literature if encouragement to use such resources was given by their school leaders,
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17
Australian primary schoolteachers’ perceived barriers to…
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Table 3 Survey responses concerning perceived enablers for the integration of children’s literature in math-
ematics teaching
Categories Examples of statement Total
(N = 118/176)
In-service
teachers
(ISTs)
(N = 81/94)
Pre-service
teachers
(PSTs)
(N = 37/82)
ƒ*
(%)
ƒ*
(%)
ƒ*
(%)
Theme 1: perceived pedagogical benefits (57.4%)
1 Encouraged and inspired by
teacher’s own perception that
teaching mathematics through
children’s literature makes
the teaching more engaging
and fun
“I like to try and make my
mathematics lessons as
exciting and engaging as
possible and I find that
incorporating picture books
is a great way of achieving
this.”
48
(31%)
36
(32.4%)
12
(27.3%)
2 Encouraged and inspired by
teacher’s own perception that
teaching mathematics through
children’s literature helps chil-
dren to apply and make mean-
ingful connections between
their mathematics learning and
their everyday life
“A belief in the power of chil-
dren’s literature to provide
a meaningful and engaging
context for mathematical
problem solving.”
23
(14.8%)
16
(14.4%)
7
(15.9%)
3 Encouraged and inspired by
teacher’s own perception that
teaching mathematics through
children’s literature makes
mathematics learning more
accessible to students
“It would have helped me as
a child when I found maths
too abstract and needed
scaffolding support to make
the bridge.”
9
(5.8%)
7
(6.3%)
2
(4.5%)
4 Encouraged and inspired by
teacher’s own perception that
teaching mathematics through
children’s literature also helps
with children’s language
development
“Because it allows students
to think mathematically and
enhance their literacy skills
at the same time.”
4
(2.6%)
3
(2.7%)
1
(2.3%)
5 Encouraged and inspired by
teacher’s own perception that
teaching mathematics through
children’s literature helps chil-
dren to visualise mathematical
concepts
“To support students to visu-
ally connect with concept.”
3
(1.9%)
3
(2.7%)
0
(0%)
6 Encouraged and inspired by
teacher’s own perception that
teaching mathematics through
children’s literature is an effec-
tive way to teach mathematics
“Been doing it for a long time
and know it’s effective.”
2
(1.3%)
2
(1.8%)
0
(0%)
Theme 2: love of stories (11.7%)
7 Encouraged and inspired by
teacher’s love of stories
“I love picture story books
so it’s natural for me to use
them.”
10
(6.5%)
8
(7.2%)
2
(4.5%)
8 Encouraged and inspired by
children’s love of stories
“Students, in my experience,
love stories being read to
them and therefore really get
involved in the learning.”
8
(5.2%)
4
(3.6%)
4
(9.1%)
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18
S.Livy et al.
1 3
mentors, colleagues and/or parents. As previously noted, this theme is a welcome contrast
to the Inhibiting Social Norms theme found earlier in the Perceived Barriers section.
The sixth and final theme, Availability of Resources, accounts for 3.2% of all cod-
ing occurrences on perceived enablers and is made up of one category Encouraged and
inspired by available resources. Specifically, teachers would be encouraged to teach math-
ematics using children’s literature if their school’s library is stocked with suitable chil-
dren’s literature for mathematics teaching or if these materials are available online. In addi-
tion, teachers are much more likely to use stories recommended by their peers.
The three most-cited Perceived Enablers account for over half (53.5%) of all coding
occurrences on perceived enablers, and these categories are: Encouraged and inspired by
The bolden numbers are essentially the sums
*ƒ is here taken to refer to the number of teachers who mentioned a particular belief. Beliefs repeated by
the same teacher were not counted twice. Participants were able to state more than one perceived enabler,
explaining why the total number of ƒ (155) exceeded the total number of teachers who responded to this
survey question (118)
Table 3 (continued)
Categories Examples of statement Total
(N = 118/176)
In-service
teachers
(ISTs)
(N = 81/94)
Pre-service
teachers
(PSTs)
(N = 37/82)
Theme 3: desire to improve teaching (10.9%)
9 Encouraged and inspired by
teacher’s own belief in the
value of cross-curricular
teaching
“I thought it was important
to encourage literacy in
the maths and integrate the
subjects.”
14
(9%)
10
(9%)
4
(9.1%)
10 Encouraged and inspired
by teacher’s own desire to
try new methods of teaching
mathematics
“Trying to find new ways to
teach concepts.”
3
(1.9%)
3
(2.7%)
0
(0%)
Theme 4: knowledge of the approach (9.6%)
11 Encouraged and inspired by
training from lecturer at col-
lege and other forms of profes-
sional development training
“I went to a Professional
Learning […] that gave
some great examples of
what literature we could use
in our maths lessons.”
12
(7.7%)
6
(5.4%)
6
(13.6%)
12 Encouraged and inspired by
teacher’s own awareness of
children’s literature that are
appropriate for mathematics
teaching
“Knew of the text and how it
linked to the concept.”
3
(1.9%)
2
(1.8%)
1
(2.3%)
Theme 5: enabling social norms (7.1%)
13 Encouraged and inspired by
key stakeholders (e.g., school
leaders, mentors, colleagues
and parents)
“Mentor teacher encourage to
do so as students tend to me
more captivated by stories.”
11
(7.1%)
7
(6.3%)
4
(9.1%)
Theme 6: availability of resources (3.2%)
14 Encouraged and inspired by
available resources
“We have a well stocked
library with accompanying
ideas ready to use for your
maths lessons.”
5
(3.2%)
4
(3.6%)
1
(2.3%)
Total (ƒ) 155 111 44
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19
Australian primary schoolteachers’ perceived barriers to…
1 3
teacher’s own perception that teaching mathematics through children’s literature makes
the teaching more engaging and fun (31%); Encouraged and inspired by teacher’s own
perception that teaching mathematics through children’s literature helps children to apply
and make meaningful connections between their mathematics learning and their everyday
life (14.8%); and Encouraged and inspired by training from lecturer at university and other
forms of professional development training (7.7%).
Proportionally, almost all perceived enablers were cited equally by both ISTs and PSTs.
An exception is the Encouraged and inspired by training from lecturer at college and other
forms of professional development training category where noticeably more PSTs (13.6%)
cited this enabler compared to ISTs (5.4%).
Discussion
Our study set out to investigate Australian ISTs’ and PSTs’ perceived barriers to, and ena-
blers for, the integration of children’s literature in mathematics teaching and learning. The
key findings from our survey data, as framed by Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behav-
iour (TPB), will now be discussed.
Perceived barriers
Perceived behavioural control
Our discussion of the three most-cited themes of perceived barriers (i.e., Lack of Pedagogi-
cal Knowledge and Confidence, Time Constraint and Resource Constraint) is framed using
the Perceived behavioural control component of Ajzen’s (1991) TPB as they are all related
to factors that could hinder a particular behaviour.
Concerning the lack of pedagogical knowledge and confidence (Theme 1), this includes
a lack of awareness of suitable children’s literature for teaching mathematical concepts for
both cohorts. As part of teacher training, both ISTs and PSTs could be made aware of the
over 400 story picture books in English language that can be used to teach over 40 math-
ematical concepts as collated on the MathsThroughStories.org website. While training can
certainly make ISTs and PSTs aware of resources that are available, there is no guarantee
that the resources will be implemented using appropriate pedagogical approaches. Ongoing
training and strategies, e.g., setting up communities of practice that provide a forum for
ongoing sharing of ideas, would assist with teachers having ongoing access to resources
that would extend their knowledge base. In addition, one fourth of the PSTs reported hav-
ing limited or no knowledge of the approach when using story picture books, which could
be seen as surprising given PSTs’ currency of their training. However, the 25% reported
might be less about awareness and training and more about a lack of mathematics teaching
experience with story picture books. Further professional development experiences could
help to influence their beliefs regarding the meaningful connections to mathematics teach-
ing and learning provided by quality story picture books, including tasks that encourage
engagement, problem solving and reasoning (e.g., Muir etal., 2017). The 30% of ISTs who
regularly use story picture books and as part of a community of practice, could be encour-
aged at a local level to assist with changing other teachers’ praxis and beliefs concerning
teaching mathematics with story picture books.
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20
S.Livy et al.
1 3
The majority of teachers in the study also reported time constraints (Theme 2) as being
a key barrier to integrating children’s literature in their mathematics teaching. Within this
theme, limited or lack of time to search for suitable children’s literature was cited fre-
quently, particularly by ISTs. It is thus crucial that they are introduced and encouraged to
use on-line databases of recommendations for mathematical story picture books (catego-
rised according to mathematical concepts) like the example given in the previous para-
graph, so that their perceived barrier can be addressed. The finding that more ISTs (22.3%)
cited this perceived barrier when compared with PSTs (7.2%) could be that ISTs have much
less time to search for relevant teaching resources in general when compared with PSTs
who may have to find relevant teaching resources as part of their mandatory coursework.
A number of teachers also cited curriculum pressure as being another perceived bar-
rier within Theme 2. One potential solution which could address this perceived barrier
is encouraging these teachers to teach in a cross-curricular manner, using one story pic-
ture book to achieve the learning outcomes of both mathematics and literacy, extending
children’ literacy and vocabulary by discussing the mathematical concepts of the story
(NCTM, 2018).
Some teachers reported a resource constraint (Theme 3) and difficulties sourcing story
picture books suitable for mathematics teaching and learning due to a perceived or actual
lack of resources at school. Professional development could support these teachers by
assisting them to utilise story picture books that contain, as Marston (2014) describes, per-
ceived mathematical content, i.e. story picture books that are written mainly to entertain,
with the mathematical concepts incidental. They could achieve this goal by reading these
books with a ‘mathematical lens’ (Trakulphadetkrai, 2018), so that they could begin to
consider opportunities for making meaningful mathematical connections with their favour-
ite story picture books, without needing to buy story picture books with explicit mathemat-
ical focus. Furthermore, professional development opportunities could be targeted around
providing teachers with practical resources, such as ready-made tasks linked to story pic-
ture books and key mathematical concepts and online stimuli, such as YouTube videos.
It is likely that once teachers start utilising such resources, they may be more convinced
about the merits of utilising story picture books, thus extending their knowledge and shift-
ing their beliefs regarding the value of such approaches.
Subjective norm
The fourth theme, Inhibiting Social Norms, aligns with the Subjective norms component of
Ajzen’s (1991) TPB as it relates to the extent to which teachers felt worried that teaching
mathematics using children’s literature might be perceived negatively by key stakeholders
in their schools (e.g., school leaders, teaching colleagues or parents). As noted, more PSTs
cited this perceived barrier (arguably due to the power dynamic between them and their
mentors during their teaching placement). One way to address this perceived barrier is for
mathematics teacher educators to encourage PSTs to have conversations with their mentors
regarding the trialling of different pedagogical approaches by making connection between
theory and practice. All teachers should be encouraged to identify themselves as important
stakeholders and experts who are willing to trial different approaches to teaching math-
ematics (Kieran etal., 2013).
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Australian primary schoolteachers’ perceived barriers to…
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Attitude towardsthebehaviour
The final theme, Doubts about Outcome Expectancy, aligns with the Attitude towards the
behaviour component of Ajzen’s (1991) TPB as it relates to teachers’ personal evaluation
of the behaviour in question. In this instance, three key perceived barriers emerged that
could lead to teachers’ unfavourable evaluation of teaching mathematics using children’s
literature. Specifically, they include perceived unsuitability of the approach for children of
certain age groups; perceived limitation of the approach in catering for different learning
needs; and perceived incompatibility between children’s literature and mathematics teach-
ing. This highlights a need for teachers of older children (e.g., 10 + years old) to recog-
nise that there are many suitable story picture books that can be used as a springboard for
teaching more complex mathematical concepts, and for their school’s Mathematics Lead
to encourage them to use it as part of their teaching. For example, in Heads or Tails (Muir,
2018), children engage with a story related to the probability of an event occurring. After
reading the story, children might predict then flip two coins, 20 times, record outcomes,
and then compare and discuss predictions and results. Such experiences could demonstrate
to teachers with perceived barriers about the potential for story picture books to cater for
children with different learning needs. For example, story picture books can be used as
a springboard for differentiating the learning through the use of open-ended tasks with
enabling and extending prompts (Sullivan etal., 2006). Enabling prompts can be posed to
children having difficulty with the main task and extending prompts aim to extend the chil-
dren’s responses to the main task, such as making a generalisation (Sullivan, 2018). There
are many other examples of rich, challenging tasks targeted at upper primary-age children
developed around narratives that include enabling and extending prompts in an aim to opti-
mise the level of challenge for all children participating in the lesson (e.g., Russo, 2018;
Russo & Russo, 2019). Such lessons also demonstrate teachers’ purposeful and meaningful
context and connections between literacy and mathematics.
Perceived enablers
Attitude towardsthebehaviour
Our discussion of the three most-cited themes of perceived enablers (i.e. Perceived peda-
gogical benefits; Love of stories; and Desire to improve teaching) is framed using the Atti-
tude towards the behaviour component of Ajzen’s (1991) TPB as it relates to teachers’
personal evaluation of the behaviour in question. In this instance, these perceived enablers
could arguably lead to teachers’ favourable evaluation of using children’s literature as part
of their mathematics pedagogy. Similarly, if teachers see the value of the approach, they
may be more motivated to overcome some of the more practical barriers noted, such as
sourcing appropriate books or overcoming time constraints.
In relation to Perceived pedagogical benefits (Theme 1), there were five themes that
teachers reported as enablers for the integration of children’s literature in mathematics
teaching. Specifically, teachers were encouraged and inspired because children’s literature
is a more engaging way of teaching mathematics and helps make mathematical connec-
tions meaningful and accessible to children. It also helps with language development and
the visualisation of mathematical concepts.
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22
S.Livy et al.
1 3
The majority of teachers who have used story picture books in their mathematics teach-
ing believe that teaching mathematics is more engaging via the use of such resource. The
literature supports this belief reporting that children can be highly motivated when the
story provides a hook for mathematical learning. In addition, teachers are engaged because
they can choose stories they enjoy and the task or investigation can be engaging for chil-
dren because it includes a range of mathematical ideas (Russo & Russo, 2018). Others
agree that engagement should be fostered through careful selection of appropriate literature
and purposeful mathematical tasks that might also promote problem solving and reasoning
(e.g., Muir etal., 2017; NCTM, 2018).
Perceived behavioural control
Our discussion of Knowledge of the approach (Theme 4) and Availability of the Resources
(Theme 6) can be framed using the Perceived behavioural control component of Ajzen’s
(1991) TPB as they all relate to factors that enable a particular behaviour. In relation to
the former theme (Knowledge of the approach), our finding highlights the importance of
training teachers in how the use of story picture books supports the implementation of the
mathematics curriculum, including the proficiencies of understanding, fluency, problem-
solving and reasoning (ACARA, 2018). In relation to the latter theme, our findings high-
light the value of schools providing teachers with appropriate resources, given that the
existence of mathematical story picture books inspired teachers to teach mathematics using
children’s literature.
Subjective norm
The remaining theme, Enabling Social Norms, aligns with the Subjective norms, compo-
nent of Ajzen’s (1991) TPB as it relates to how a person’s intention to behave in a cer-
tain way is shaped and influenced by what that person thinks about how others might per-
ceive that behaviour. In the context of this study, a number of teachers felt inspired to teach
mathematics using children’s literature recommended by other teachers. By forming com-
munities of practice (Wenger, 1999), teachers can learn from each other and inspire one
another to enrich their mathematics teaching (e.g., Nickerson & Moriarty, 2005). In light
of this finding, there appears to be potential for such collaborations developing around the
practices of using story books to extend children’s mathematical understanding.
Comparison offindings
Our Australian study’s findings largely resonate with those of the Irish study (Prendergast
etal., 2019) and the Maltese study (Farrugia & Trakulphadetkrai, 2020). Specifically, the
contextual data of the teachers in this study revealed that the majority of them (75.1%)
had either never used children’s literature in their mathematics teaching or had done so
but infrequently (i.e., 10 mathematics lessons or less per school year). This self-reported
contextual data is very much in line with what was reported for Maltese teachers (79.4%),
though not to the same extent as Irish teachers (91.6%). That the majority of the teachers
in the current study (and the other two studies) did not regularly enrich mathematics teach-
ing and learning using story picture books is concerning, given the pedagogical benefits
reported in research over the past three decades.
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23
Australian primary schoolteachers’ perceived barriers to…
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Overall, the perceived barriers and enablers found in the Australian study also resonate
with those found in Irish and Maltese studies. For example, the ‘Encouraged and inspired
by teacher’s own perception that teaching mathematics through children’s literature makes
the teaching more engaging and fun’ category is the most cited perceived enabler across
all three studies, namely Australian (31%), Irish (25.5%) and Maltese (34.4%). Similarly,
the ‘Limited or lack of awareness of suitable children’s literature for specific mathemati-
cal concepts or age groups’ category emerged as the most cited perceived barrier in the
Australian study (31.5%) and the Irish study (22.8%), but appeared only as the fourth most
cited perceived barrier in the Maltese study (13%) behind Limited or lack of time (unspeci-
fied) (19.6%); Curriculum pressure (15.2%); and Limited or lack of suitable children’s lit-
erature at school (15.2%). While such nuanced differences in the emphasis in these per-
ceived barriers and enablers exist across the national studies, the overall similarities in the
emerging perceived barriers and enablers across the studies arguably highlight that teach-
ers—regardless of where they teach—are constrained and enabled by similar forces.
Conclusion andlimitations
The aim of this qualitative survey study of Australian primaryschool teachers was to inves-
tigate the range of key perceived barriers to, and enablers for, the integration of children’s
literature in mathematics teaching. A thematic analysis revealed 13 perceived barriers clas-
sified under five themes, with Lack of Pedagogical Knowledge and Confidence, and Time
Constraint, representing 75% of all perceived barriers. 14 perceived enablers were identi-
fied and classified under five themes with Pedagogical Benefits and Love of Stories repre-
senting around 70% of all perceived enablers.
In terms of limitations, while our analysis of the study’s open-ended survey data yielded
a useful belief structure, we did not incorporate interviews as a data collection method,
which likely would have provided further insights into some of the teachers’ responses.
Likewise, to corroborate some of the findings that emerged from the survey data, our find-
ings may have been strengthened by observing some mathematics lessons where teachers
used children’s literature. Finally, we acknowledge that the use of snowball sampling with
ISTs does not necessarily lead to representative results as teachers might have opted into
the study due to their interest in teaching mathematics using story picture books.
Despite the above methodological limitations, we suggest that the current study is use-
ful in highlighting to mathematics teacher educators and teacher training agencies in Aus-
tralia, that it is likely that many Australian teachers are lacking the necessary pedagogical
knowledge, experience and confidence to allow them to enrich their mathematics teaching
with children’s literature—an affordable pedagogical resource, which research over the past
decades have consistently found to be beneficial. Teachers rely on their foundation knowl-
edge, including beliefs about how mathematics should be taught (Rowland etal., 2009),
which we suggest should include an awareness that using children’s literature in mathemat-
ics teaching is beneficial. To ensure this, teachers could be provided with, for example,
research-based evidence that extends their foundation knowledge and beliefs of how to
plan mathematics lessons using story picture books. Further uptake could also be facili-
tated if teachers are provided with exemplars of best practice of other teachers effectively
teaching with story picture books. Further research is still needed, including an investiga-
tion into whether teacher educators are reluctant to include the use of story picture books
in their mathematics education course, using a research approach to the one reported here.
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24
S.Livy et al.
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Teacher educators could also consider the use of the TPB approach to capture barriers and
enablers for this phenomenon as a means for identifying how to make (content-specific)
teacher training more meaningful for ISTs and PSTs.
We hope this study will contribute to the existing international conversation regarding
how PSTs and ISTs can be better prepared and supported in engaging children in math-
ematical experiences through the use of story picture books.
Acknowledgements We would like to thank the University of Reading for funding the Open Access fee for
this article.
Funding None.
Declarations
Conflict of interest None.
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Authors and Aliations
SharynLivy1 · TraceyMuir2 · NatthapojVincentTrakulphadetkrai3 ·
KevinLarkin4
Sharyn Livy
sharyn.livy@monash.edu
Tracey Muir
tracey.muir@utas.edu.au
Kevin Larkin
k.larkin@griffith.edu.au
1 Monash University, 47-49 Moorooduc Highway, Frankston, VIC3199, Australia
2 University ofTasmania, Newnham Drive, Launceston, TAS7250, Australia
3 University ofReading, 4 Redlands Road, ReadingRG15EX, UK
4 Griffith University, 1 Parklands Drive, Southport, QLD4215, Australia
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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4.
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