Mathematics teachers’ classroom practices in the context of 21st century skills: a case of one secondary school in Lusaka district, Zambia.

Despite global aspirations towards a 21st Century Skills learning agenda, Zambia's efforts to effectively integrate these skills into classroom settings have shown limited advancement. This discrepancy highlights the challenge of translating theoretical aspirations into tangible educational practices. It is in this light that the researcher investigated the mathematics teachers’ classroom practices in the context of 21st Century Skills at secondary school level. Mathematics teachers’ practices were focused on because mathematics as a subject plays a key role in shaping how individuals deal with the various spheres of life, be it private, social or cooperate. The objectives of this study included: determination of what mathematics teachers know about 21st Century Skills; determination of how mathematics teachers’ classroom practices align with facilitation of learners’ acquisition of 21st Century Skills; understanding ways in which classroom-based assessments as administered by mathematics teachers are aligned with 21st Century Skills; and establishment of the views of teachers on the challenges they face in line with the 21st Century Skills. In this qualitative study, an ethnographic research design was utilized. The study sample consisted of two secondary school mathematics teachers who were purposively selected. The first teacher had 29 learners whereas the second one had 24 learners. Semi-structured interviews, lesson observations, performance assessment and document analysis were used to generate information. Content analysis was employed to analyze the collected data. It was found out that the sampled teachers were aware of 21st Century Skills however they deemed technology as the main 21st century skill. The teachers
practices in respect of teaching and assessment did not incorporate strategies aligned to the learner acquisition of the 21st Century Skills, an occurrence which denied learners to effectively acquire the 21st Century Skills focused on in this study. Consequently, it is recommended that school mathematics departments implement comprehensive professional development programs for mathematics teachers that encompasses 21st Century Skills beyond technology. Furthermore, professional development programs should integrate innovative teaching strategies and align classroom assessments with 21st Century Skills.