Transforming mathematics education : the role of textbooks and teachers.

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.