Integrating 21st-Century Skills into Mathematics Textbooks: Teachers’ Perspectives from Saudi Arabia

This study explored how middle school mathematics teachers in Saudi Arabia perceive the presence of 21st-century skills—such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and technology use—in the textbooks they teach from. A mixed-methods approach was adopted: a survey of 80 teachers (40 men and 40 women) was combined with interviews conducted with 18 participants, giving a fuller picture of how these skills are understood in practice. The findings suggest that some skills are more visible than others. Collaboration, technology, and communication were seen as strongly represented, while creativity appeared only to some degree and critical thinking was mentioned the least. Perceptions were not uniform. Female teachers tended to place greater value on communication and creativity, and those with more than ten years of teaching experience reported that the textbooks reflected these skills more clearly than novice teachers did. Interviews helped explain these differences. Experienced teachers often described how they adjusted textbook activities to encourage problem-solving and discussion, whereas new teachers admitted relying more closely on prepared lessons and were sometimes reluctant to try open-ended tasks. Taken together, the results highlight the need for textbooks to make creativity and critical thinking more explicit, instead of leaving these skills to the discretion of individual teachers. At the same time, professional development—especially for newer and male teachers—should focus on interactive and creative teaching approaches. These recommendations fit closely with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 and reflect international directions (P21, OECD, UNESCO) that call for education systems built around competencies rather than rote content. Received: 06 October 2025 / Accepted: 09 December 2025 / Published: January 2026