Students' attitude towards mathematics across lower secondary schools in Shanghai

Whilst students in Shanghai were top-ranked internationally in the 2009 and 2012 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) studies, much less is known about Shanghai students’ attitudes towards mathematics and how this varies across the 11–15 age range. This chapter reports on a study of attitudes towards mathematics of Shanghai students in lower secondary schools, in terms of their emotional disposition towards mathematics and their perceived competence in mathematics. Data were obtained from 4,236 students across grades 6 to 9 in eleven schools across four school districts in SH. Our study found that across the grades an increasing proportion of Shanghai students reported a positive disposition towards mathematics, with only slight drop in Grade 8. We also found that the combinations "I like it although I can’t do it" and "I can do it but I dislike it" were not rare. Interestingly, in seven out of the eleven schools surveyed, more than half of the students who disliked mathematics conveyed that they could do it. Noticeably, the seven schools were all top or above-average achieving schools (according to school district and city-level examinations). Our study also found that more boys expressed a positive emotional disposition than girls. Nevertheless, there was no difference between boys’ and girls’ perceived competence in mathematics.