An Examination of 5th Grade Mathematics Curriculum in Terms of 21st Century Skills

Abstract

In today's world, schools should emphasize on life skills rather than technical skills, so that individuals can adapt to changes. In this respect, various institutions tried to define the skills that individuals should have in the 21st century, called as 21st century skills. 21st century skills are one of the most important issues in education. The reason for this is that we need to determine nowadays what skills and knowledge the generations will have after 20 years. In this study, it is aimed to find out which skills the objectives of the fifth grade mathematics courses taught in Turkey are covered in terms of acquiring 21st century skills through the acquisitions and explanations determined by the Ministry of National Education. In this direction, qualitative research method was used in this study. At the end of the study, there was no data found regarding to "learning to learn", "taking initiative and entrepreneurship", "communication" and "productivity" skills in the objectives of the fifth grade mathematics curriculum. 5th grade mathematics lesson objectives remained missing to take initiative and develop entrepreneurship skills. The findings showed that "problem solving", "critical thinking", "creativity", "ICT literacy", "social and cultural skills and citizenship" and "cooperation" skills were found but inadequate in the objectives of the fifth grade mathematics curriculum. Adding daily life activities and giving examples from daily life are effective in terms of gaining 21st century skills. In general, the fifth grade mathematics curriculum focuses on "mathematics competence" skill in the objectives.

Curricular Goals and 21st-century Competency in Mathematics Education in Master’s Degree Program

“…It is getting more important for jobseekers to be competent in knowledge constructions and problem solving, preferably by integrating ICT and creativity (Smit, 2016a). To address such issues, 21 st century skills and competences are highly desirable for today's human resources (Vural & Vural, 2020).…”

“…Over the last fifteen years, several different frameworks and taxonomies have been proposed by a variety of organizations such as the European Parliament and the council of the European Union, the organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) (Rotherham & Willingham, 2010;Tan, 2015). Among many, four consistently represented are: creativity, critical thinking/ problem solving, communication, and collaboration (Chu, et al, 2021;Coffland & Xie, 2015;Rotherham & Willingham, 2010;Smit, 2016a;Vural & Vural, 2020). According to Coffland and Xie (2015, p. 317), the 21st Century Mathematics curriculum will have the three characteristics: 1) connecting mathematics course content with real life, embodying and stressing the messiness of real life) 2) connecting between related topics within mathematics, enabling and encouraging learning progression, and 3) connecting math to other subjects in the curriculum, emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach.…”

Elementary students’ attitudes towards STEM and 21st-century skills

“…This finding is similar to Nakakoji and Wilson [32] who state that mathematics is very important and supports the development of 21st-century skills. In addition, the characteristics of mathematics are to develop and apply a mathematical thinking style to solve daily life problems, so that it is very suitable for 21st-century skills [33]. Mathematical attitudes are aimed at stimulating creative activity and innovation in 21st education [34], so that they are in line with the characteristics of 21st-century skills.…”