791 ‘I am really not alone in this anxiety’: Bibliotherapy and Pre-service Primary Teachers’ Self-image as Mathematicians Sue Wilson Australian Catholic University s.wilson@signadou.acu.edu.au Steve Thornton University of Canberra steve.thornton@Canberra.edu.au In this study bibliotherapy encouraged pre-service teachers to reflect on their school experiences and their views of themselves as learners of mathematics while studying school students’ experiences. Pre-service teachers’ responses to readings on students’ learning problems allowed them to reconstruct their experiences, changing their self-image of themselves as students, and their assessment of their capacity to learn and teach mathematics. Their reflections emphasised the lasting influence of individual teachers, and showed awareness of alternatives to the teaching approaches they experienced. Research investigating the effect that studying students’ difficulties in learning mathematics, including mathematics anxiety, had on pre-service teachers’ perception of themselves as learners of mathematics hypothesised that these reflections may enable pre- service teachers to re-evaluate their own experiences. This may enable them to develop a more positive self-image as learners of mathematics. In addition, their reflections may also produce a greater insight into how children’s anxiety about mathematics can be minimised by teachers (Wilson & Thornton, 2005). This paper has a different focus. It examines the use of bibliotherapy to assist pre-service teachers to examine their attitudes towards learning mathematics and its potential to enhance their confidence as future teachers of primary school mathematics. Theoretical Framework Bibliotherapy The purpose of the technique of bibliotherapy is to assist individuals to overcome emotional turmoil related to a real-life problem by reading literature on that topic. People address their problems by reading about the situations of a third person, or an animal. It is based on the active, dynamic process of reading, enabling the person to identify with the protagonist in the story, followed by individual or group discussion in a non-threatening environment (Aiex, 1996). Bibliotherapy can be defined as “the guided reading of written materials in gaining understanding or solving problems relevant to a person’s therapeutic needs” (Riordan & Wilson, 1989, p. 506, quoted in Myracle, 1995). Underlying the application of bibliotherapy is the assumption that reading is a dynamic process. The reader is an active participant in the process. People read, bringing their own needs and problems to the reading experience and interpreting the words in the light of their own experiences. Because the situation involves a third person, the reader is able to experience the problem from an objective viewpoint. The process of bibliotherapy involves three stages: identification, catharsis and insight. The characteristics of these stages are: identification - the reader identifies with the protagonist catharsis - the reader becomes emotionally involved and releases pent-up emotions. Tension is released and this is accompanied by an “emotional feeling that lets the