Diversity as a Chance in Mathematics Classrooms

Every teacher knows the situation: While some students have already solved the given mathematical problems and are asking for further challenges, others have not even taken up their pencil. Whereas some students are trying to solve new mathematical problems with enthusiasm and creativity, others cannot even start working and do not have any confidence in their own capabilities. On the one hand, this diversity of students is one of the major challenges we meet in mathematics classrooms. On the other hand, it is worth to be considered from another perspective. The students’ heterogeneity is not only a difficulty for mathematics teachers. It offers interesting chances, when we succeed in guiding the diversity of student thinking and acting to productive mathematical goals. In order to find such chances, it is important to realize that students do not only vary in their pace of work and their proficiency level but in many dimensions, e.g., their prior experiences, conceptions, motivations, and strategies. This article wants to illustrate the idea of diversity as a chance by seven scenes of concrete classroom situations.