Impact Of Teachers’ Attitude On Students’ Mathematics Achievement In Meitei Pangal Community Of Manipur

Abstract

Secondary school students in the socio-economically and educationally backward indigenous Manipuri Muslim ethnic group the Meitei Pangal community in India’s north-eastern state of Manipur do not perform well in mathematics when compared to their counterparts in other communities. There could be various reasons for this deficit in mathematics achievement. Research findings have indicated that mathematics achievement of students is determined by many factors including students’ attitude towards mathematics which is shaped by several factors like classroom teaching methods, school support system, mathematics teachers’ attitudes in teaching mathematics etc. Teachers’ positive attitude towards mathematics will motivate students to form a favourable attitude towards learning the subject and achieve better in the subject while teachers’ negative attitude could be responsible for their low mathematics achievement. This paper explores secondary school mathematics teachers’ attitude towards mathematics and its influence on Meitei Pangal students’ mathematics achievement in Thoubal district of Manipur. It also suggests measures to improve teachers’ attitude towards mathematics to realise students’ better achievement in the subject which will go a long way in enabling the socio-economically and educationally backward community’s participation in various important fields in this age of science and technology. This research has implications for the secondary mathematics teachers, administrators and education policy makers.