Arithmophobia: Educational Professionals’ Experiences of Mathematics Anxiety Within the Primary School Classroom

Children are thought to experience more negative attitudes towards mathematics than any other subject (Dowker et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2015). For some children, their experience of mathematics extends beyond a mere dislike of the subject; mathematics makes them anxious. Known as mathematics anxiety, the phenomenon has been coined as a phobia, as ‘arithmophobia’ (Faust, 1992). Much of the available research on mathematics anxiety focuses on its origins and presentation from neuroscientific, biological, and clinical perspectives, rather than educational and social perspectives. Most research therefore highlights aspects of mathematics anxiety in relation to how it affects the human brain, how it makes it difficult for individuals to recall information, and how their attention span is consequently reduced, but this does little to suggest how children’s educational experiences are impacted and what this means in practice (Carey et al., 2016; Wu et al., 2014).This study aimed to report the views of nine educational professionals, providing insight into their observations of mathematics anxiety in their classrooms, the strategies they use to help mathematically anxious children, and what training opportunities professionals should be provided with so that they can continue to effectively help mathematically anxious children. Thematic analysis (TA) was used to produce four themes and 23 sub-themes. The findings strongly correlate with the literature review. Observations of mathematics anxiety included mathematical avoidance and strong emotional reactions to mathematics. Strategies for managing mathematics anxiety included encouraging growth mindsets and promoting positive classroom cultures. Current training opportunities available were found to be limited, but all participants advocated for more training on mathematics anxiety. Recommendations further included drawing upon the expertise of mathematics leaders and reviewing school structures to identify where addressing mathematics anxiety could be embedded into institution-wide approaches. Implications for future policy and practice are discussed.