An Examination of 5th Grade Mathematics Curriculum in Terms of 21st Century Skills
Volume6 Issue2
Ömer Faruk VURAL Selma VURAL
Pages: 82-92 Download Count : 1821 View Count: 2110 DOI Number 10.24331/ijere.824752 Facebook Twitter Share on Google+
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.
Keywords
- 21st Century Skills
- 5th Grade Mathematics Curriculum
- Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum
- Teachers’ Opinions.