Linda Bonne

Dr Linda Bonne is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at Victoria University of Wellington, specializing in primary mathematics education. She joined the university in 2020 and works 0.6 FTE (3 days per week), teaching in primary initial teacher education and supervising thesis students. Her research bridges cognitive and affective domains in mathematics education, focusing on emotional dimensions that are often overlooked in traditional approaches.

Linda holds the following educational qualifications:

• PhD in Education from Victoria University of Wellington (2012)
• MEd from Wellington College of Education (2003)
• BEd (Teaching) from Wellington College of Education (1999)
• DipTchg from Wellington College of Education (1994)

Her research program centers on three interconnected areas: people's beliefs and emotions associated with learning mathematics, pedagogical strategies that support conceptual understanding through visual representations, and innovative use of poetic inquiry to represent research data. This work challenges the traditional cognitive emphasis in mathematics education by foregrounding emotional dimensions that significantly impact teaching and learning.

Linda's recent publications reveal a growing emphasis on emotional aspects of mathematics education, with increasing use of creative research methodologies like poetic inquiry. Her collaborative work with colleagues Higgins and Eden has established a distinctive research stream examining how emotions shape mathematics teaching and learning experiences, particularly in teacher education contexts. This research has important implications for addressing mathematics anxiety and creating more emotionally supportive learning environments.

Linda currently supervises four doctoral students working on projects examining teachers' beliefs about mathematics learning, students' use of diagrams in problem-solving, effective practice activities for quantitative research methods, and metacognitive understandings of gifted mathematics students. She has led several significant research projects on intermediate and middle schooling in New Zealand, including studies on digital technologies, equity, and wellbeing in Year 8 classrooms.

As a member of the Human Ethics Committee at Te Herenga Waka, Linda contributes to institutional research governance. Her editorial roles with the New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies and International Journal of Mathematics Teaching and Learning demonstrate her commitment to scholarly communication in mathematics education. She also engages with schools through workshops like her 2025 session with Crofton Downs Primary School on mathematical representations.