Wicked problems in school mathematics

Abstract

The paper concerns climate change controversies and teachers' facilitation of pupils' critical mathematics perspectives through wicked problems. The data was collected in a research partnership with three teachers and their tenth grade pupils. A particular focus is directed towards how controversies can influence teachers to make different versions of a quiz, and this is discussed in relation to the teachers' value perspectives. The teachers' choices of questions, numbers, and graphs are connected to their facilitation of action or critical thinking. In the dialogues, the teachers challenged each others' choices, and the controversies and value aspects were made explicit.