STATISTICAL THINKING AT EARLY PRIMARY SCHOOL LEVELS: CURRICULUM PERSPECTIVES IN UAE TEXTBOOKS

Developing statistical thinking is vital to fostering students’ critical thinking; however, it requires suitable curricula, appropriate textbooks, and well-prepared teachers. For many decades, statistics education was almost absent in the K–12 education in the Arab world. During the past few years, noticeable education reform efforts at all educational levels have  introduced advanced curricula that aim to equip students with the skills that would enable them to compete internationally. This study aims to analyze the new statistics curricula in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as a leading educational model, and assess their alignment with the best international practices in developing statistical thinking at the primary school levels. Content analysis of the statistics component in mathematics textbooks from Grades 1–4 in UAE is presented in this paper, benchmarking the statistics content with the best international practices. Finally, recommendations on efficient and practical approaches to ensure appropriate development of statistical thinking at early educational stages are showcased.