Teachers' Views and Experiences Regarding Acquiring Analytical Thinking Skills in the Middle School Mathematics Curriculum

Abstract

In this research, the level of acquiring analytical thinking skills in the secondary school mathematics curriculum was examined according to the opinions and experiences of the teachers. The research was carried out by the phenomenology pattern, one of the qualitative research designs. The research was performed with the voluntary participation of eight mathematics teachers working in public secondary schools in the central district of Bursa in Türkiye. In the selection of teachers, it was considered that they had experience with the curriculum, had at least five years of professional experience, and received in-service training on the curriculum. The opinions and experiences of the teachers about the curriculum were obtained using a semi-structured interview form. The data were analyzed by content analysis, and themes were created. According to the results, the teachers found the curriculum insufficient for gaining analytical thinking skills. According to the teachers' opinions and experiences, the mathematics textbooks' questions and activities are insufficient for gaining analytical thinking skills. According to teacher experiences, leaving students alone with non-routine questions supports their analytical thinking skills. In addition, the modeling technique helps to embody the analytical thinking process. The teachers stated that the applications in the textbooks were prepared to assume every student would learn at the same pace and similarly. In addition, it has been revealed that students wanted to work by rote, not wanting to tire their minds and getting used to ready-made it difficult for them to acquire high-level thinking skills such as analytical thinking. Some suggestions have been developed according to the results obtained.