Modelling‐orientated teaching (a theoretical development for teaching mathematics through the modelling process)

It is of our belief that modelling must constitute one of the essential components of teaching mathematics in secondary education. And it is worth noting the fact, that while this process has attracted interest from at least the early 1980s, few researchers and educators believe in the teaching of mathematics through the modelling process. Prompted by the problems we have spotted in the curriculum of Greek secondary education, we have developed modelling‐orientated teaching, a didactic model with which we can teach new mathematical concepts. This model is a three‐part approach with the following stages: conceptual modelling; abstraction and formalization of mathematical concepts; applied modelling. In this paper we also quote elements from the international discussion about the role and place of modelling in mathematical education, a discussion that still goes on. In the last part we present some of the conclusions of wider research, in the context of which we have developed modelling‐orientated teaching.