Attitudes & Beliefs with Jie-Qi Chen

Jie-Qi Chen explains the importance (and difficulty) of fostering positive attitudes and beliefs in educators towards teaching mathematics.

Often professional development does not focus on attitudes and beliefs. Why? It’s subjective. It’s judgmental. It’s difficult to change. And particularly, it’s difficult to measure the change.

Dr. Jie-Qi Chen is the Principal Investigator of the Early Math Collaborative and a professor of child development at Erikson Institute. She is also the director of Erikson’s Ph.D. in Child Development doctoral program. Chen’s work focuses on cognitive development, teacher professional development, classroom assessment, early mathematics education, the application of multiple intelligences theory, and school-based intervention.

The Early Math Collaborative, supported by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, held international symposia in 2009 and 2010. The two events brought experts from around the world to share approaches to early mathematics education with teachers, administrators, policy-makers, and other education professionals. The goal was to generate globally-informed ideas and recommendations for improving math instruction in the early childhood classroom. In breakout discussions and plenary sessions, participants brainstormed ideas, identified issues, and recommended actions.