What Is and What Is Not Mathematical Modelling in Primary School: Opinions of Slovenian and Croatian Primary School Teachers

Every day we encounter various obstacles and tasks that we solve with the help of mathematics, consciously or unconsciously. Mathematical modelling in teaching is an important interactive process in which students are introduced to problems from the real world and their environment. All education is slowly striving for students??? better education on problem-solving, including mathematical modelling, but this is not yet the practice in the lower grades of elementary schools. Our research describes what mathematical modelling actually is in primary school and its advantages and difficulties, all from the point of view of the primary school teachers themselves. The research was conducted on 1000 primary school teachers from Croatia and Slovenia. The study results show almost no differences according to the originating country even though we expected some since Slovenia had previously introduced mathematical modelling into its curricula. Results also indicate that teachers are fairly uneducated on the topic of mathematical modelling, and the difficulties that could arise from its introduction into the classroom. It can also be reported that teachers are eager and ready for education on a given topic, and in the vast majority show interest in additional much-needed education.