Arousing Early Strategic Thinking about SDGs with Real Mathematics Problems

Abstract

In this article, we ask whether it is possible to reinforce problem design skills in secondary school mathematics teachers around the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), so that young students can try out a first numerical approach to sustainable development. If this is possible, we ask whether it would significantly improve their relationship with sustainability and their perception of the usefulness of mathematics. The present paper aims to proactively contribute to the field of civic education through the design of original math problems combining math secondary education curriculum with the predicament of the 2030 Agenda and the 17 interlinked SDGs. Conceived as a qualitative research tool for teacher training, generating adequate resources for their professional practice, five of these chosen workshop activities have been presented to a group of forty-seven students who were asked to complete a questionary afterwards about their attitude towards the proposal. The article’s main findings are that SDGs are a powerful source of inspiration for problem design grounded in real-world contexts and that students of this age are mostly ready to feel curiosity and motivation about the mathematical approach to sustainability and their capacity to analyze real data, regardless of the inevitable oversimplification of the problem.