The 1980s saw a world-wide push for problem solving to be the central focus of the school mathematics curriculum since the publication of Polya’s book about solving mathematics problems in 1954. However, attempts to teach problem solving typically emphasised the learning of heuristics and not the kind of mathematical thinking used by mathematicians. There appears to be a lack of success of any attempt to teach problem solving within school curriculum. Problem solving strategies learned at lower levels tended to be ignored instead of being applied in their mathematical engagements at the higher levels, possibly because of the routine nature of the high-stake national examinations. The era of mathematical problem solving, its research and teaching and learning in schools ended, ambivalent on research findings and imprecise on recommendations for its teaching in schools (Schoenfeld, 1992; Lester 1994).
Based on the teaching and research experience of the organising team, we strongly feel that problem solving should still be the direction for teaching mathematics in schools. As such, this discussion group is proposed to identify the practices in teaching problem solving in school mathematics classrooms across different parts of the world, and how these practices are linked to the success.