Positive Education and Teaching for Productive Disposition in Mathematics

The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics defines four proficiency strands. The work from which they are drawn includes a fifth proficiency (productive disposition) that relates to students’ propensity to persevere and to perceive mathematics as worthwhile. We argue for the importance of productive disposition as reflecting the importance of affect in mathematics learning. We link it with work in positive education, particularly around character strengths, to suggest ways in which mathematics teachers’ awareness of the importance of affect might be raised. Positive education may offer a means of putting productive disposition on the agenda in considerations of improving mathematics achievement.