Abstract
In this survey paper we aim to provide an overview of research on mathematics textbooks and, more broadly, curriculum resources as instruments for change related to mathematical content, instructional goals and practices, and student learning of mathematics. In particular, we elaborate on the following themes: (1) The role of curriculum resources as instruments for change from a theoretical perspective; (2) The design of curriculum resources to mediate the implementation of reform ideas and innovative practice; (3) Teachers’ influence on the implementation of change through curriculum resources; (4) Students’ influence on the implementation of change through curriculum resources; and (5) Evidence of curriculum resources yielding changes in student-related factors or variables. We claim that, whilst textbooks and curriculum resources are influential, they alone cannot change teachers’ teaching nor students’ learning practices in times of curricular change. Moreover, more knowledge is needed about features of curriculum resources that support the implementation of change. We contend that curriculum innovations are likely to be successful, if teachers and students are supported to co- and re-design the relevant curriculum trajectories and materials in line with the reform efforts and their own individual needs.
Highlights
One of the main concerns of mathematics education research is to improve mathematics education practice
We conclude this paper by summing up the relevant issues and outlining lessons learned from research on mathematics curriculum resources as mediators of change, and we indicate future directions for research
We give a brief historical overview of how curriculum resources became instruments for change, and we review the literature in terms of how the role of mathematics curriculum resources has been theorized within educational systems and how this role contributes to their function as instruments for change
Summary
One of the main concerns of mathematics education research is to improve mathematics education practice. In educational systems around the world, mathematics textbooks and, more broadly, curriculum resources are widely regarded as instruments for the implementation of change in mathematics classrooms (Cai & Howson, 2013; Keitel et al, 1980; Remillard, 2005; Senk & Thompson, 2003). One of the aims of this special issue is to draw particular attention to this power attributed to textbooks and curriculum resources. Leaning on the work of Pepin and Gueudet (2018) and Remillard (2018), we use the term curriculum resources to include textbooks, and we define the term for our purpose as the print or digital materials designed to support teachers’ teaching and students’ learning; they are materials that have. To Pepin and Gueudet (2018), we regard analogue and digital mathematics textbooks as a key part of a set of curriculum resources
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