Analysis of the content of middle school mathematics textbooks from the perspective of mathematical creativty

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the content of 5th-grade mathematics textbooks in accordance with the creativity framework developed by Hadar and Tirosh (2019) in mathematics curriculum materials, in the context of learning areas and content types (activities, assessment questions, and examples) included in the books. Document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study, and two 5th-grade mathematics textbooks published by the Ministry of National Education were examined. Within the scope of document analysis, 303 activities, 119 assessment questions, and 209 examples in the textbooks were analyzed in terms of creative thinking themes. The findings show that the examined content supported the dimensions of creative thinking to a limited extent. It was determined that the vast majority of the content was concentrated in the theme of convergent-holistic thinking, the most basic level of creativity. It was particularly concentrated in the subcategory of "identifying and applying mathematical principles." This theme was followed by divergent thinking at lower rates and lateral thinking at the lowest rates. Within divergent thinking, the subcategory "using mathematical knowledge outside of mathematics" was most prevalent, while in lateral thinking, the subcategory "discovering mathematical ideas" was most prevalent. The largest area in all types of content examined (activities, assessment questions, and examples) was observed to belong to the convergent-holistic thinking theme. When examining the content related to the convergent-holistic thinking theme, it was determined that a large portion was grouped under the subcategory of "identifying and applying mathematical principles." As a result, it was found that textbooks mostly contain closed-ended tasks that lead to a single correct answer; students' opportunities to formulate problems, generate alternative solutions, and develop original ideas are limited. These findings indicate that textbooks need to increase their potential to support students' mathematical creativity development.