How Does Pedagogical Flexibility in Curriculum Use Promote Mathematical Flexibility? An Exploratory Case Study

Kyeong-Hwa Lee, GwiSoo Na, Chang-Geun Song and Hye-Yun Jung
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Kyeong-Hwa Lee: Department of Mathematics Education, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
GwiSoo Na: Department of Mathematics Education, Cheongju National University of Education, Cheongju 28690, Korea
Chang-Geun Song: Department of Mathematics Education, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Hye-Yun Jung: Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, Jincheon 27873, Korea

Mathematics, 2020, vol. 8, issue 11, 1-26

Abstract: Flexibility has been increasingly valued in mathematics education to better prepare students for lives in the rapidly changing society of the future. Although there has been conjecture that teachers’ flexibility plays a substantial role in facilitating students’ mathematical flexibility, there has been little examination of how teachers can use a flexible curriculum to develop mathematical flexibility (MF) in authentic classroom environments. This paper elaborates the notion of flexible curriculum use, referred to as pedagogical flexibility (PF) in curriculum use, as the competence to expand pedagogical space and make alternative pedagogical decisions when planning and enacting a curriculum that differs from the routine practices provided in the intended and written curriculum. We develop a framework for PF in curriculum use to identify and characterize teachers’ curriculum use to promote MF. In an explorative case study with one middle school teacher, we analyzed what and how specific aspects of PF in curriculum use promote potential and actual MF in the learning of central tendency measures. Findings indicate that the teacher could expand his pedagogical space by carefully differentiating the pedagogical considerations of the curriculum and could find alternative approaches by making associative and reflective connections among them. This provides insight into how PF in curriculum use can promote students’ potential and actual MF.

Keywords: pedagogical flexibility; teacher curriculum use; mathematical flexibility; lesson planning; lesson implementation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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