PROBLEM POSING, PROBLEM SOLVING AND CREATIVITY IN MATHEMATICS: FUNDAMENTALS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATION

Abstract

For teachers to adopt creative approaches in their classrooms, such practices must be deliberately and thoughtfully pursued, driven by clear motivation. This helps prevent the uncritical reliance on teaching methods that may constrain both students’ autonomy and teachers’ capacity for innovation in the face of ongoing educational change. This reflective theoretical essay examines how problem posing and problem solving can operate in an integrated manner as a strategy to foster creativity in mathematics education at the basic education level. Grounded in a narrative review of national and international literature, the text retraces the conceptual development of creativity - from divergent thinking to sociocultural perspectives; delineates the characteristics and potential of open and closed problems in relation to autonomy, authorship, and creative thinking; and connects these reflections to methodological and strategic possibilities. Research findings point to the use of problem posing and problem solving as means to develop and deepen mathematical concepts. It is acknowledged, however, that the emergence of creativity in mathematics classrooms depends on teacher mediation and, consequently, on initial and continuing teacher education policies aligned with curricular goals for mathematics education. As a future agenda, the study recommends the design of teacher education programs that are responsive to the specificities of each stage of basic and higher education, as well as further research into the intentional articulation between problem posing and problem solving in the creative development of mathematics learning.