A cross-national comparative study of teachers' views on the transition from primary to post-primary mathematics education

International research shows that transition from primary to post-primary education tends to have deleterious effects on student achievement and motivation in mathematics. Issues pertaining to lack of curricular and pedagogical continuity across the transition have been identified as contributing factors in this apparent regression in students’ mathematical learning, and it has been suggested that relevant teacher CPD may lead to improvements in teachers’ cross-phase curricular and pedagogical knowledge, thus alleviating such discontinuities for students at transition.
Findings from a cross-national comparative study, in a jurisdiction with a transition-related CPD project (Northern Ireland) and a jurisdiction without such an initiative (Republic of Ireland), suggest that CPD has potentially beneficial effects for teachers’ cross-phase curricular and pedagogical knowledge. However, the qualitative findings from the study indicate that the ultimate benefits for students’ mathematical learning are likely to be maximised only if measures are taken to address organisational and societal barriers to successful transition. For example, some Northern Irish teachers suggested that patterns of mathematics teaching associated with preparing students for academic selection tests during the final year of primary education were distorting students’ overall mathematical learning experiences and, ultimately, disrupting the experiential continuum in their mathematical learning on transition to post-primary education.