Obstacles to Teaching the Mathematics Course at the Secondary Stage from the Perspectives of Teachers, Educational Inspectors, and University Faculty

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the main obstacles to teaching mathematics at the secondary school level in Libya, and to examine whether there are statistically significant differences in the participants’ assessment of these obstacles according to gender, job position, years of experience, and academic qualification. The study adopted the descriptive-analytical method. To collect data, a questionnaire of 35 items was developed, distributed across three main domains: curriculum and content; the teacher and teaching practices; and the learning environment and material resources. The random sample consisted of 37 participants: 14 male and female teachers, 12 educational inspectors, and 11 university faculty members from the Mathematics Departments at the Faculty of Education, Al-Ghurayfah, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Sabha. The results showed that the overall level of obstacles was high, with a mean score of 3.63. The learning environment and material resources domain ranked first at a very high level (M = 4.29), followed by the teacher and teaching practices domain at a high level (M = 3.44), while the curriculum and content domain ranked last at a moderate level (M = 3.10). The most prominent obstacles were the lack of financial support for purchasing instructional materials and the scarcity of continuous professional development programs specialized in mathematics teaching. The results revealed no statistically significant differences attributable to gender or years of experience. However, statistically significant differences attributable to job position were found in the learning environment domain only, in favor of teachers and inspectors compared with university faculty members.