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Teaching is a call to the sacred in life, for it is the field of self-knowing and ultimately of transformation. My conceptual exploration of the inner life of the teacher represents an experiment in educational research wherein I define the qualities of the "True" teacher and show how a heightened teaching "presence" cultivates a classroom of compassion and soulful learning. I have invited the voices of other writers from the fields of psychology, philosophy, spirituality and education to co-habit this text, offering their unique insights into searching/educating for spirit. This auto-ethnography presents a personal narrative of my teaching/living experiences revealing the pre-requisites necessary to be fully present in the classroom, and honoring the humanity both in myself and in my students. I examine the essential qualities of the True teacher as manifested in her presence, and in the acts of "myth-making," "witnessing," "compassion," and "knowing." Throughout my writing, I juxtapose my personal/professional inquiries with a more academic discussion revealing the tension between these two voices within myself. As well, I locate my personal inquiries in the experiences of the body honoring the kinesthetic wisdom that I have too long ignored. What emerges is a conversation between teacher and person, both identities searching for communion with the other. The classroom is the site of that communion as I come to inhabit my body and my spirit more fully, and begin to recognize the barriers and bridges to my True self/ teacher within my pedagogy and my life. This autobiographical writing is a healing journey locating transcendence within the everyday experiences of a teacher's life.

Mathematics 436 is the advanced mathematics course offered to students in secondary IV in the province of Quebec. Although the course is designed to challenge students in the advanced stream, it has produced a high number of failures. This study examines the relationship between mathematics anxiety and achievement in Mathematics 436. Fifty-six students from an English high school on the island of Montreal took part in the study. The Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale for Adolescents was used to measure the level of mathematics anxiety experienced by the students. In addition, grades from the previous year in mathematics were obtained, as well as grades from the present year, and the final examination. The results of the study suggest that students enrolled in Mathematics 436 experience a high level of mathematics anxiety. As well, higher levels of mathematics anxiety experienced by the students are associated with poor performance in mathematics.

In order to close the gap that exists between the research areas of mathematics anxiety and mathematics learning, this study examined cognitive, metacognitive, and affective aspects of mathematics anxiety as well as students' mathematics performance and competence. One hundred and five grade 9 students, 51 males and 54 females, from two high schools in the same school board provided data on current and past final grades and anxiety measures, both general and specific to mathematics anxiety. A subset of 40 students was selected based on either high or low mathematics anxiety, and verbal protocols were collected while they solved six mathematical problems. Students ranked themselves and teachers ranked their students on how confident they felt about solving each problem. Two sets of marks were assigned to students' performance, one based on their written work only and the other one also taking into account knowledge evidenced from their verbalizations. As predicted, the more mathematics-anxious students showed greater awareness of their mathematical knowledge or the lack thereof, making significantly more coded statements for four out of the six variables that implied greater awareness. High-anxious students were less likely to consider continuing their mathematical education. Teachers overestimated their students' performance, while students underestimated their knowledge level, but more closely estimated the mark they would receive on a test regardless of anxiety level. Given that mathematics-anxious students seem aware of their lack of knowledge, any treatment of mathematics anxiety needs to include teaching not only mathematical knowledge, but also skills such as monitoring and reflecting about application of such knowledge to the solution process.

Teaching is a call to the sacred in life, for it is the field of self-knowing and ultimately of transformation. My conceptual exploration of the inner life of the teacher represents an experiment in educational research wherein I define the qualities of the "True" teacher and show how a heightened teaching "presence" cultivates a classroom of compassion and soulful learning. I have invited the voices of other writers from the fields of psychology, philosophy, spirituality and education to co-habit this text, offering their unique insights into searching/educating for spirit. This auto-ethnography presents a personal narrative of my teaching/living experiences revealing the pre-requisites necessary to be fully present in the classroom, and honoring the humanity both in myself and in my students. I examine the essential qualities of the True teacher as manifested in her presence, and in the acts of "myth-making," "witnessing," "compassion," and "knowing." Throughout my writing, I juxtapose my personal/professional inquiries with a more academic discussion revealing the tension between these two voices within myself. As well, I locate my personal inquiries in the experiences of the body honoring the kinesthetic wisdom that I have too long ignored. What emerges is a conversation between teacher and person, both identities searching for communion with the other. The classroom is the site of that communion as I come to inhabit my body and my spirit more fully, and begin to recognize the barriers and bridges to my True self/ teacher within my pedagogy and my life. This autobiographical writing is a healing journey locating transcendence within the everyday experiences of a teacher's life. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Submittedto the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1993. / In this study difficulties relating to mathematics problem solving were linked to the way people see themselves as problem solvers. Following this line of reasoning, Mathematics anxiety is viewed as a product of the student's distorted perception of his/her ability to do mathematics. It was further argued that negative beliefs about oneself were at the root of poor performance in mathematics problem solving. A cognitive restructuring method designed to change such distorted perceptions, and a subsequent change of behaviour was explored. On the basis of the promising results of this study, a recommendation is made that students with mathematics anxiety should be identified early and advised to seek psychological help before they lose hope completely.

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M.Ed. (Subject Didactics of Mathematics) / The phenomenon commonly known as 'mathematics anxiety' has been discovered by researchers endeavouring to determine the cause of problems with mathematics, the antagonism against it, and the deliberate avoidance of the subject. The way in which we view and experience mathematics has a radical influence on our decision-making. Mathematics anxiety is a dominant factor in the decisionmaking process of pupils in a wide spectrum of situations, and research has confirmed that mathematics anxiety invariably has a negative, hampering effect. The development of mathematics anxiety is a gradual process which can commence at any stage of a pupil's school career. By means of a questionnaire it has been established that the problem regarding mathematics anxiety stems primarily from the very nature and structure of the subject. Secondary factors such as the language of mathematics, textbooks, personality, society, the curriculum, evaluation, time limitation and problem solving have been identified empirically as variables in the development of mathematics anxiety. Since mathematics anxiety is an emotional and not an intellectual problem, it can be overcome. Early intervention can prevent the establishment of a negative attitude. Affordable individual tuition and more confidence are according to the responses received, the most important means by which mathematics anxiety can be reduced. It is essential to develop the mathematical reading skills of mathematics anxious pupils. Once skilled, pupils can fill the gaps in their pre-knowledge by using study manuals which are carefully structured for self-study purposes...

M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract