Teachers of mathematics' responses when directly asked what it means to be successful in mathematics

Rebecca Burtenshaw; Merrilyn Goos; Margaret Marshman

doi:10.1007/s13394-026-00581-4

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Teachers of mathematics' responses when directly asked what it means to be successful in mathematics

Journal article

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Teachers of mathematics' responses when directly asked what it means to be successful in mathematics

Rebecca Burtenshaw, Merrilyn Goos and Margaret Marshman

Mathematics Education Research Journal, Vol.Advanced access

08-Jun-2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-026-00581-4

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Abstract

mathematics education

mathematics

success

purpose of schooling

dispositions

problem solving

This paper investigates how Australian teachers of mathematics, when directly asked, conceptualise success in mathematics education, drawing on responses to an open-ended survey question. While the term success features prominently in educational policy, literature, and discourse, the meanings and manifestations attached to the concept remain under-examined. Using qualitative analysis, teacher responses were categorised into six overlapping domains: Knowers of Mathematics, Users of Mathematics, Navigators of Mathematics, Humans with Mathematics, Judged for Mathematics and the Conflicted Other. Relationships between domains were then visually represented as the Agency-Time Arc, a conceptual thread that highlights how success is variably framed – from short-term academic performance to broader, agentive and long-term engagement. The apparent dominance of certain domains and the relatively limited presence of other interpretations of success raise critical implications for how students experience mathematics, particularly if success is interpreted as mastering a collection of concepts that are school-bound and temporary. The findings also demonstrate a level of tension and conflict between teachers’ personal beliefs and system-driven expectations, offering important insights for the ongoing interrogation of success in mathematics education.

Details

Title: Teachers of mathematics' responses when directly asked what it means to be successful in mathematics
Authors: Rebecca Burtenshaw (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Merrilyn Goos - University of the Sunshine Coast
Margaret Marshman - University of the Sunshine Coast
Publication details: Mathematics Education Research Journal, Vol.Advanced access
Publisher: Springer Dordrecht
DOI: 10.1007/s13394-026-00581-4
ISSN: 2211-050X
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Data Availability: Data cannot be shared openly to protect study participant privacy, asspecified in the ethical approval for the study.
Organisation Unit: School of Education and Tertiary Access
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991241470102621
Output Type: Journal article

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