The task was presented to the students in Lesson 3 after the topic of perimeters of
rectangles. This task was selected as the illustrative example for this report because it
contained many of the task features identified to promote creative thinking (Table 2) but
during task implementation creative mathematical thinking was not evidenced. After task
closure, two students (Leon and Pepe) displayed creative thinking in further exploration of
the task. As Leon, and Pepe were not the focus students, classroom dialogue was captured
in fragments by the video cameras and in the field notes. Leon’s interview (Lesson 12)
supplemented this data.
Two distinct learning cultures operated at different times in this classroom. One culture
was based on teacher selection of direction and student contribution of ideas whereas the
other culture was based on student selection of direction and teacher provision of
assistance. In whole class discussions, the teacher selected the solution pathway and
questioned students (video data) for the purpose of building on their ideas (teacher
interview). The teacher decided which student comments to integrate into whole class
discussion and acknowledged then discarded other comments. In small group work (usually
pairs), students selected their own solution pathways and consulted the teacher when they
experienced difficulties. The teacher generally provided hints or explanations and
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sometimes asked open questions. The task: ‘What are the dimensions of the rectangle with
perimeter 38 cm?’ was undertaken as a whole class activity.