Abstract
Rich exploratory, visual tasks foster opportunities conversations in math class. Clear mental models build the foundation for deeper conversations and foster a class culture where all voices are heard by providing opportunities to take risks and reflecting on beliefs about student ability. Teachers and students can learn the value of engaging with different perspectives. Reflecting on instruction for teachers and learning for students improves retention and understanding. A teacher's role is as facilitator and modeling behavior and communication. Professional development and frameworks are needed to adopt the competencies effectively. Researchers evaluating efficacy of rich tasks and 21st century competencies must reexamine beliefs about ability, consider the impact of societal barriers on student learning, and focus on how instruction can adapt to be more effective for all learners. More research in all of these areas is needed.
TopIntroduction
Implementing 21st-century competencies in math classes requires an interest in creating or providing exploratory, open-ended, and accessible content (Suh et al., 2017). Pedagogically speaking, an openness to collaborative, constructivist, culturally responsive, and cognitively guided instruction is required (Orhan Göksün & Kurt, 2017). Adopting a new way of thinking about math education is not a straightforward process of buying a book, downloading a task, and showing a video. An ongoing process of examining deeply held and often unconscious beliefs about who can learn mathematics, reexamining the content of mathematics instruction with an understanding of how students learn and do mathematics, and actively engaging in professional development delivered in a 21st-century style is required. Schools must engage in strategic planning to transform the entire system (Garza, 2019) and recruit adventurous teachers (Faulkner & Latham, 2016).
The chapter begins with an overview of the content, classroom culture, opportunities, and issues in implementation with regard to the 21st-century competencies of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity in the mathematics classroom (Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2019). Three examples of lessons and implications for research follow.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Communication: Expressing thoughts verbally, visually, or written and listening, looking, or reading with the goal of understanding.
Collaboration: Working in an interdependent group with a common goal.
Equity: Actively examining opportunities and barriers to success due to societal constraints, not student ability or dominant cultural norms.
Critical Thinking: Engaging with multiple forms of thinking to analyze, deduce, or reflect on a problem.
Productive Struggle: Wrestling with a problem without feeling incapable or full of doubt.
Accessible: Content with an entry point that all students can begin regardless of proficiency.
Creativity: Using a variety of tools, forms of thinking, and modes of expression to make sense of a problem from multiple perspectives.
Accessibility: Activities and resources designed with disability and accommodations in mind.
Growth Mindset: A belief that, with access to the right tools and opportunities, hard work will eventually result in growth.