This study examines the relationship between teachers’ perceived attitudes and the mathematics performance of Grade 6 students in schools in the city of Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, for the 2023–2024 academic school year. Using a correlational approach, it analyses data collected from pupils regarding their perceptions of their teachers’ behaviours and reactions, as well as their mathematics results. The correlations show that positive teacher attitudes (warmth, support, active listening, efforts to help, and rephrasing the question in the event of an error) are associated with slightly higher performance in mathematics, whilst negative or disparaging attitudes (getting angry, maintaining a heavy silence, expressing disappointment) are negatively correlated with performance. These results suggest that, in a context of significant educational disadvantage, the quality of teacher-student interactions and the emotional handling of errors constitute measurable pedagogical factors influencing learners’ mathematical performance, beyond the structural constraints linked to class size and resources.

This study describes and analyses the teaching practices of Grade 6 primary school mathematics teachers in Bunia, within a school context characterised by overcrowded classrooms, often inadequate initial training, and poor results in mathematics despite the introduction of free schooling. Drawing on the pedagogical effectiveness model of Creemers and Kyriakides (2010) and the principles of explicit instruction of Rosenshine and Stevens (1986), the article examines the extent to which teachers in 17 schools in Bunia (69 teachers, 23 Year 6 classes, 2023–2024 academic year) employ key practices such as daily review, clear objectives, step-by-step presentation, checking for understanding, feedback and individual practice. Data were collected using a standardised observation grid (α = 0.92) and subjected to descriptive statistics and the chi-square test to compare the frequencies of use of the various practices. The results show that Grade 6 teachers in Bunia excel in the clarity and structure of their lessons: they clearly define objectives, avoid digressions, present content in successive stages, and support difficult concepts with numerous detailed explanations and a wide range of practical examples. The majority also regularly check pupils’ understanding by asking oral questions and correcting mistakes, which is consistent with explicit and sequential teaching. Furthermore, feedback and error correction are frequent, with teachers encouraging pupils, giving them clues, correcting incorrect answers and sometimes re-teaching the same material. Conversely, practices involving the revision and checking of daily work are rarely implemented: a large proportion of teachers do not systematically check homework, do not ask short questions at the start of the lesson, nor do they use various forms of revision (peer correction, group work, written summaries, etc.). Similarly, supervised individual practice remains rare, with few established routines, brief interactions with pupils and limited opportunities for differentiated practice, even for difficult content. In conclusion, although 6 Grade primary school teachers in Bunia demonstrate proficiency in clarity, structured presentation and feedback, their practices remain inadequate in terms of daily revision, differentiation and ongoing individual practice. The authors attribute these shortcomings to a combination of structural constraints (overcrowded classes, limited teacher training, and lack of resources) and propose, in response, continuing professional development schemes and lesson plan templates to strengthen explicit and differentiated teaching of mathematics in Grade 6.