Many people will tell you they “hate math,” including teachers who also hate teaching math. Why is this such a widespread sentiment? The problem may be that they were taught math by teachers who didn't have a deep understanding of what they were teaching (Maloney & Beilock, 2012). Most people who choose elementary school teaching as a career are women and, historically, many women come to college without strong math skills (Hill, Corbett, & St. Rose, 2010), having received early and persistent societal messages insisting that “girls can't do math” despite evidence to the contrary (Milgram, 2011). Although teachers may be good at following directions and memorizing the formulas they were taught to use to solve problems that involve numerals, if they don't understand basic mathematic concepts, they won't be able to teach them very well. Family members who also did not necessarily learn those concepts may find it difficult to support their children as they learn things their parents and caregivers may not know.
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