Chapter 4: Concerns of a Critical Mathematics Education: Challenges for Teacher Education

If we consider the many roles that mathematics is playing in society, mathematical knowledge appears crucial for social participation. Such participation could take many forms: it could be in terms of work, in terms of consuming, or in terms of political agency. As there are many forms of participation, there are also many forms of marginalization and exclusion. Many groups of children and young people might, due to their background, tend to become excluded from school activities. Let us also emphasize that we do not think of these groups of children as any form of minority. One just needs to remember that the total number of children in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand is smaller than the world population of children who do not go to school (UNESCO, 2000).