General Topic

The three plenary sessions address the problem of the evolution of the mathematical curriculum given the new society demands, especially concerning critical issues like sustainability and the high development of data science.

πŸ“… 4th February, 14:30-16:00

πŸ“ Building A1, Crane Hall

Ferdinando Arzarello (Italy).
Coordinated by Marianna Bosch (IPC)

Ferdinando Arzarello, Professor Emeritus in Mathematics Education at Turin University, is author of more than 160 research papers, mainly about the study of teaching/learning processes in mathematics, with reference to curricula, to the use of digital and not digital tools in the classroom, and to the systems of semiotic representations activated by teachers and students. He was president of UMI-CIIM, of ERME and of ICMI.

Abstract
In recent years the internationalisation and globalisation of the economy, the universality of technological development and the related needs for new skills and knowledge play the role of strong motivations for mathematics curriculum reforms that have brought calls for many changes and push for unified standards for mathematics in school.
In general, the stress is mainly on promoting specific and more or less sophisticated ways of Thinking (Critical, High Order, Computational, …), an Inquiry-based Mathematical Education, a Quantitative literacy, etc. Some international agencies (e.g. OECD) are even picturing these changes as a race between Technology and Education.
I will base on a few Italian curricular stories of these last few years to reflect on issues that I think crucial to critically settle an updated mathematics curriculum in nowadays society. Hence my presentation is thought as a possible companion/frame for the examples illustrated by the two other plenary talks in this Conference.
More precisely, I will discuss three main points and illustrate them through some examples:

  1. The international research largely underlines the elusive and multifaceted aspects of what is meant by a mathematics curriculum across countries. Among others, two major driving forces have been identified as significant, even if not always convergent: that of cultural values and that of political movements. They emphasize how sensitive our definitions should be to particular contexts in order to adequately grasp the working of specificreform efforts in our analyses.
  2. Teachers involvement, ownership and commitment to a curriculum reform should be regarded as a must for its successful implementation: for its achievement, concrete bottom up and top-down strategies are needed, as well as suitably theoretical analysis tools.
  3. With new areas and links to other disciplines being introduced in mathematics curriculum reforms (e.g. modelling, computational/algorithmic thinking, climate change, data science, AI, etc.) foundational questions about what constitutes mathematics in the school mathematics curriculum have equally been raised and these are also linked to the current changes in professional mathematics. These issues pose serious challenges and difficulties for defining updated and feasible school mathematics curriculum reforms.

πŸ“… 5th February, 09:00-10:30

πŸ“ Building A1, Crane Hall

Dialogue between Kjellrun Hiis Hauge (Norway) and Alf Coles (UK).
Coordinated by Susana Carreira (IPC)

Alf Coles, University of Bristol (UK)

Alf is Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Bristol. His research began with an interest in questions of how cultures develop, in mathematics classrooms and with groups of teachers. For the last 10 years, he has been increasingly concerned with how mathematics education can respond to the climate emergency. He has been an editor of Research in Mathematics Education and is current chair of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics.

Kjellrun Hiis Hauge, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (Norway)

Kjellrun Hiis Hauge is a professor of sustainability education at Faculty of Teacher Education, Arts and Sports at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. Her research interests are within critical mathematics education and include critical citizenship and students’ capacity to engage critically with mathematics-based information related to controversial societal issues.

Abstract
Mathematics is applied to describe, understand and communicate climate change, its consequences and possible solutions. However, mathematics has also contributed to creating the problems of climate change through technology and capitalism. Furthermore, mathematics is shown to have the power of creating certain ways of thinking about the world, about who we are as humans and about what is fair. Thereby, it is entangled in, perhaps, every aspect of climate change. Yet, mathematics is often taught as a neutral and value-free enterprise, disentangled from the living world and focusing on non-complex problems with only a single solution.
In this plenary talk, we consider what entanglements mathematics education could respond to, in the context of a world on fire. These include the entanglement of humans and ecosystems, the entanglement of people across the globe and across time, and the entanglement of values, hopes and climate change from a critical, democratic perspective. We discuss how these can be connected to mathematics and mathematics education, and how the entanglements may be overlapping and contradicting, as they may represent conflicting worldviews. The Norway and the England curriculum are analysed in terms of what values and entanglements they convey, related to climate change, and what kind of citizen is imagined. Finally, we propose a mathematics curriculum for the future which acknowledges the proposed entanglements, and which can foster hope.


Plenary 3. The new role of data in society: Exploring challenges and opportunities for mathematics education in the age of data science and AI.

πŸ“… 5th February, 14:00-15:30

πŸ“ Building A1, Crane Hall

Dialogue between Michelle Wilkerson (USA) and Rolf Biehler (Germany).
Coordinated by Sibel Kazak (IPC)

Rolf Biehler, Paderborn University (Germany)

Rolf Biehler is professor emeritus for didactics of mathematics at Paderborn University, Germany. His research interests include data science education, university mathematics education, and the professional development of teachers. He is currently co-directing the Project Data Science and Big Data at School (www.prodabi.de/en/), a collaborative project with computer science educators.

Michelle Hoda Wilkerson, University of California, Berkeley (USA)

Michelle Hoda Wilkerson is associate Professor, School of Education (BSE) and Core Member, Graduate Group in Science and Mathematics Education (SESAME) at University of California, Berkeley. Her research addresses the question: How is computing changing the ways that young people learn and communicate, particularly in STEM contexts? A major strand of this work leverages design-based and microgenetic research methods to examine how young people reason about large datasets using computing tools and methods such as visualizations, GIS tools, and simulations.

Abstract
Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are transforming society, creating the very entanglements of mathematics with people, values, and the wider world that Hauge and Coles emphasize in their dialogue. This presents new challenges and opportunities for mathematics education, where data has long played a central role in statistical topics and mathematical modelling. At the same time, these entanglements require rethinking curricula beyond mathematics education, with an eye towards its interdisciplinary connections to other school subjects. 
In this talk, we will explore what is distinctive about Data Science by contrasting it with statistics, probability, and mathematics, and by examining its deeper connections with specific problems and everyday contexts. Data Science and AI’s pervasiveness across contexts and domains suggest a variety of literacies that are essential for students to navigate a data-driven world, and to envision how they might shape their future. These include critical data literacy, statistical literacy, media literacy, computational literacy, and generative AI literacy. We explore the evolving role of these literacies in mathematics education and highlight a strong need for interdisciplinary collaborations between data science and natural and social sciences as well as computer science in order to support the development of these literacies. We will present examples from our own work demonstrating ambitious interdisciplinary Data Science explorations that are possible under excellent conditions, as well as examples of more flexible interdisciplinary Data Science pedagogies and activities that, given the current challenges and constraints of schooling, hold higher potential for immediate curricular integration. These examples highlight specific areas of need for further research, educator preparation, and curricular restructuring, with implications for educational policy.