Using Finger Counting Strategies in Early Childhood Education as a Basis for Culturally Responsive Teaching of Mathematics in Owerri Municipal Area of Imo State
Keywords:
mathematics, cultural responsive teaching, early childhood education, Finger CountingAbstract
The aim of this study is to elicit responses from Early Childhood teachers on their use of counting strategies in early childhood education as a basis for cultural responsive teaching in mathematics. The study was carried out in Owerri Municipal Council Area of Imo State. Based on the purpose and objectives of the study, two research questions and one hypothesis were posited to guide the study. The population of the study comprises all the teacher in early childhood care education in Owerri municipal area of Imo State which is 450 (four hundred and fifty) teachers, out of which a sample of one hundred and fifty (150) early Childhood teaches was selected for the study through simple random sampling technique (balloting). The research instrument was questionnaire validated by three experts; data collected were analyzed using Mean, Proportion and Chisquare. The study reveals that higher population of the teachers uses beats or abacus and models more than the use of fingers in counting numbers and higher proportion of teachers used whole fingers, many do not use the finger lines in teaching counting of numbers. It also observes that the use of finger counting in teaching by teachers is significantly dependent on school location. It is therefore
recommended that teaching of mathematics especially at the early child care
education stage should be presented in such a way that reflects the people’s
culture and values.
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