Theme

Mathematics for hope: Building connections in Mathematics teaching and learning

Mathematics classrooms can be places where teachers and learners

  • appreciate rich connections between topics,
  • see how mathematics is applied in our lives,
  • see mistakes as opportunities for growth and learning,
  • where teachers and learners feel hopeful and successful,
  • move to learning rather than just performance while appreciating the power of their minds and the success that comes from effort.

Let us make mathematics possible for everyone at some level.

"Hope is not passive. Hope is taking action. And hope always comes from the people."
Greta Thunberg

When we consider the different people that are included in our mathematics community, we think about the teachers, learners, students, parents, and extended families. Each of these members has their own hopes and aspirations related to learners learning mathematics. Teachers would like every learner in their class to not only flourish in their class, but to flourish in all aspects of their lives.

Mathematics is seen as the gatekeeper for so many careers and professions and students who do not perform well, can feel not just the immediate loss of hope but the evaporation of potential careers that will fulfil them and bring benefits to themselves and their families. How can we support these learners so that they can attain their dreams? How can we broaden the purposes of teaching and learning mathematics to assist learners to move towards learning which will in turn foster performance?

Is it possible to promote more collaboration among teachers, learners, families, students, professional organisations, university faculties and policy makers? Can this community influence the policy makers to consider a curriculum with less breadth so that learners feel empowered by their deeper grasp of key areas from which they can build?

Let each of us use our eyes to see the common vision of hope, use our ears to hear the needs of our learners and our voices in our mathematics community to build hope for every person in our mathematics community. Hope comes from each one of us.