COMMENTARY: Mathematics Education for the Twenty-First Century

Turn of the millennium; twenty-first century society; twenty-first century skills; twenty-first century learning; twenty-first century classroom; technology revolution; globalization; terrorism; world economy; environmental issues: these are some of the ideas that one might associate with the first decade of the new millennium, the 2000s, or the aughts. How does mathematics education fit into this picture? The ten articles in this decade of the aughts directly or indirectly offer particular ways to address this. Thus, the approach I take in this commentary is not to comment on each article in an isolated way, but to use them to paint a picture of mathematics education for the twenty-first century. In particular, I address the following themes that emerged for me from the papers: numeracy in the twenty-first century, cognitive science learning and teaching, mathematical processes, connecting mathematics to our world, and practice-based professional development.