Abstract:

Mathematics is one of the logical and practical academic disciplines to be acquired as a key competence in the context of lifelong learning. However, learners' knowledge of mathematics is deteriorating every year, and mathematics is one of the reasons for the difficulties at all levels of education. Poor results in mathematics do not always indicate laziness or unwillingness to do so. In many cases, this indicates that the student has difficulty learning mathematics and may not be able to learn mathematics at all. Several educational studies show that knowledge of mathematics has declined in recent years, often associated with different mathematics learning disorders. This article discusses two learning disabilities in mathematics: dyscalculia and mathematical anxiety.

Dyscalculia is considered as a specific ability to learn mathematics (rather than an inability), a feature of a student's brain that determines the perception and processing of information. At the same time, math anxiety - as a negative emotional reaction to math, determined by various factors. It should be noted that in the scientific literature, dyscalculia is considered a cognitive disorder, mathematical anxiety is emotional. Math anxiety can be controlled, but dyscalculia lasts a lifetime.

The study analyses data from the Erasmus + School Education Strategic Partnership project "Teaching Mathematics to Students with Dyscalculia and Math Anxiety", which aims to offer concrete suggestions on how to work with students with dyscalculia and math anxiety, focusing on supporting math teachers to overcome students' learning difficulties in mathematics. The project carried out a study on learning difficulties in mathematics to increase teachers' knowledge of the skills needed to teach mathematics for students with dyscalculia and anxiety in mathematics, and to identify ways to overcome learning difficulties in mathematics.

As known, a narrative study involves the involvement of one or more individuals in the study, the acquisition of data in the form of personal narratives, and a description of the individual experiences of the subject. Therefore, this study included focused interviews with the target group: mathematics teachers, parents and secondary / high school students, as well as round table discussion.

Based on the parents' stories, the main factor that causes difficulties in learning mathematics is that the teachers explain too quickly, because of which the students lack the time to understand and solve the tasks. In addition, nothing is explained individually in the classroom, but a more complex topic should be explained individually, because the child most often does not understand the connections and often does not understand what the teacher wants from him / her. In contrast discussions with teachers results show that although there are many students in the classroom, teachers try to provide an individual and differentiated approach, depending on the student's abilities; attract attention with games / puzzles; reformulate the task in simpler words, etc. But students suggest enhance the link between teaching of mathematics and real / everyday life and say that the teachers should explain examples of real life where is used teaching content. It makes easier to perceive and understand the mathematics concepts differently, the question arises whether is it necessary. Students ask also for links between mathematics and other subjects and applications in them.

Keywords:

Dyscalculia, mathematical anxiety, mathematics learning difficulties, narrative study.