"I have a a fear of mathematics and it does worry me a bit as a future teacher": The cycle of maths anxiety

Abstract

The maths anxiety of 29 pre-service primary teachers, which was measured using a questionnaire, was exhibited in writing a response to two different stimulus statements. These students used the word fear on many occasions and other metaphors to describe their anxiety about the sort of teacher they might become and whether they might break the cycle of maths anxious teachers producing maths anxious children. Their words are used to illustrate this desire to break the cycle.