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Teaching mathematics for social and ecological sustainability -

Workshop presented by Yasmine Abtahi, University of South Eastern Norway.

Abstract

Middle primary years (8 to 11 years) and early secondary (12 to 15 years)

While teaching mathematics and considering social and ecological justice, I use UNESCO's (2021) Four Pillars of Education to Sustain the Commons. The four pillars of learning are described as:

  1. Learning to study, inquire and co-construct together. To highlight the social dimensions of learning, this pillar orients towards learning together.
  2. Learning to collectively mobilise. Focusing on collaboration capability, this pillar aims to empower learners to take action together, focusing on “deliberation, cross-cultural communication and coalition building”.
  3. Learning to live in a common world. The third pillar in Education to Sustain the Commons orients towards learning to live in a common world by engaging the “common humanity and with the natural world of which we are a part”.
  4. Learning to attend and care. The fourth pillar is created to attend to the balance of individualism (freedom of thought and personal critical thinking) and relationality (empathy), by emphasising learning to attend and care.

In this workshop, we use different mathematical examples to reflect on these four pillars.