Middle School Teachers' Views on Mathematical Creativity and Supporting Mathematical Creativity

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine middle school mathematics teachers' views on mathematical creativity. Phenomenology, one of the qualitative research designs, was used in the study. Ten middle school mathematics teachers, who are actively working, participated in the research. Purposive sampling method was used to determine the participants. In order to collect the data in the research, first of all, a teacher behavior scale that encourages creativity was applied to ninety-two middle school mathematics teachers. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten teachers with high scores. In these interviews, teachers were asked questions to support mathematical creativity. The obtained data were analyzed with descriptive analysis. As a result of the research, it was seen that teachers emphasized the concept of creativity with originality, and they emphasized problem solving, originality and high-level thinking for the concept of mathematical creativity. These views are concepts that many researchers have mentioned in the literature. Therefore, many of the opinions of the mathematics teachers interviewed are valid expressions for mathematical creativity.