Policy and practice in New Zealand primary mathematics: Listening to two teachers’ stories about the impact of education policy on their classroom programmes

This study explores how the stories of two teachers’ classroom practice intersect with current policies relating to primary mathematics education in New Zealand. It is identified through this study that fully enacting policy in mathematics holds challenges for the participant teachers, particularly owing to the incoherence of policies relating to teaching mathematics. Teacher desire to do the best for their students is revealed as the teachers explain how they grapple with and creatively problem solve the confusing directives they receive.