Abstract
In this chapter, we discuss the question of how we can encourage mathematics education to shift towards more inquiry-oriented practices in schools and what role textbooks and teachers play in such a reform. The stage is set by an exposition on the need for curriculum innovation in light of the demands of the twenty-first century. This points to a need to address goals in the area of critical thinking, problem solving, collaborating, and communicating. However, previous efforts to effectuate a change in mathematics education in that direction have not been very successful. This is illustrated by experiences in the Netherlands. In relation to this, the limitations of transforming education using textbooks and problems with up-scaling are discussed. To find ways to address these problems, an inventory is made of what can be learned from decades of experimenting with reform mathematics education while trying to achieve the very goals that are discerned as crucial for the twenty-first century. On the basis of this inventory, suggestions are made for shaping textbooks in such a manner that they may better support this kind of transformation. At the same time it is pointed out that the latter requires a complementary effort in teacher professionalization and a well-considered alignment of both efforts.
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- 1.
This concerned: the “Partnership for 21st century skills” (Partnership for 21st Century Skills 2008), “EnGauge” (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory and the Metiri Group 2003), “Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills” (ATCS) (Binkley et al. 2010), “National Educational Technology Standards” (NETS) (Roblyer 2000), and “Technological Literacy for the 2012 National Assessment of Educational Progress” (NAEP).
- 2.
In a similar feign, Stein et al. (2008) discern practices for promoting productive disciplinary engagement, which are related to identifying, framing, and discussing mathematical issues. Although a difference may be that Stein et al. (2008) seem to try to address both mathematical ideas and the solution strategies of the students, Cobb (1997) emphasizes the mathematical issues that underlie student solutions and tries to steer away from a focus on solution strategies as such.
- 3.
In relation to this we may point to a study by Tarr et al. (2008), which showed that NCTM Standards-based learning environments positively impact achievement on performance assessments tests that measure mathematical reasoning, problem solving, and communication, as well as proficiency in skills and procedures, but only when coupled with a curriculum that is designed to embody this pedagogical orientation. In particular, when teachers of NSF-funded curricula were enacting the curriculum as intended by the authors, student achievement was compelling.
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Gravemeijer, K.P.E. (2014). Transforming Mathematics Education: The Role of Textbooks and Teachers. In: Li, Y., Silver, E., Li, S. (eds) Transforming Mathematics Instruction. Advances in Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04993-9_10
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