comparative inquiry into UK and Chinese mathematics teachers' beliefs and instructional practices

Introduction The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment carried out across almost 80 countries which surveys the competence of 15-year-old learners in solving problems in reading, science and mathematics within real-world scenarios (Skipp & Dommett, 2021). In the 2018 PISA assessment, UK found itself plummeting to the 18th place in mathematics proficiency, behind 12 other countries which outperformed UK by far and wide (Skipp & Dommett, 2021), particularly learners in China which attained the top ranking in the survey. In a study on UK primary school mathematics teachers' changing beliefs while implementing Singapore mastery math approach, Boyd and Ash (2018, p.215), point out that a key issue in 'maths teaching in schools in Western cultures [is that they tend] to consist of teacher demonstration and telling, followed by individual practice' rather than a more 'active learning approach in mathematics'. In a recent chapter titled 'Supporting mathematics teaching for mastery in England', Blausten, Gyngell, Aichmayr and Spengler (2020, p.33-34) highlight key differences between mathematics education in the UK and in Southeast Asian nations (e.g., Singapore, Shanghai). They note that within the UK, there are multiple routes into mathematics teaching (e.g., school-led, university-led), whereas in countries like Singapore, there is only a single pathway through the National Institute of Education. In contrast to the UK, Singapore and Shanghai teachers are mathematics specialists, even in primary schooling. Another difference pertains to the prevalence of grouping by ability in the UK in contrast to whole class instruction in Southeast Asian contexts. Last but not least, Blausten et al, 2020) note that while teachers in Singapore have more time to plan and reflect due to less contact time with pupils and Shanghai teachers have access to 100 hours of professional development, teachers in the UK are only allowed to have 10 percent of their time for planning, evaluating and reflecting. In terms of teacher beliefs, other research has showed that within the UK "teachers think about, and respond differently towards, pupils according to perceptions of their ability" (Francis et al., 2017, p. 5 in Blausten et al, 2020, p.33). Drawing on Boaler, William and Brown (2000), Blausten et al (2020) add that teachers instructing high-ability sets expect more from their learners than their counterparts who teach low-ability learner groups. The last in particular points to the importance of teacher beliefs vis-à-vis instruction and learner outcomes in mathematics. Existing empirical studies comparing the beliefs of mathematics teachers in the UK and China have focused on what they believe about 'mathematics education; mathematics education: mathematics teaching, the nature of mathematics' (Yu, 2008, p.121) and beliefs about questioning in the mathematics classroom (Zhang, 2019). Based on analysis of a survey administered to 44 UK and 96 Chinese teachers from 10 secondary schools in each context, Yu (2008, p.121) found that while the English teachers reflected a 'pragmatic understanding of theory' in mathematics instruction, the Chinese teachers evidenced 'scientific understanding'. The Chinese teachers also 12 / 19 emphasized 'logical and rigorous reasoning' more than the English counterparts. A comparative interview-based research on mathematics teachers beliefs as well as practices on questioning in the classroom by Zhang (2019, p.11) showed that the English teachers preferred 'inquiry-based questioning that modified questions to accommodate students with diversity of learning abilities' in contrast to the Chinese teachers who 'were less positive about questioning' and instead prioritized 'profound mathematical content knowledge, and displayed a relatively content-based approach to questioning'. The findings of these studies indicates that the teacher beliefs influence mathematics instruction according