Mathematics

It is hard to imagine living in the twenty first century without making use of mathematics in some way or another, either as a child or as an adult. Mathematics is useful in such diverse fields as consumerism, commerce, technology, science and recreation.
Mathematics, like language, is a powerful way of describing reality. As a medium of communication it is concise and unambiguous and it enables predictions to be made about situations which are described mathematically.
Apart from the obvious usefulness of mathematics, it can also be intrinsically interesting.
The twin ideas of "usefulness" and "interest" should be at the heart of the mathematics we do at school.
Mathematical concepts at all levels need to be linked, to be learned, to practical applications, to imaginative ideas, to current student interests, to ordinary language, to the students' experiences and to thinking. Mathematics is not an isolated body of knowledge, separate from human interests, ideas, thoughts and language. It simply extends them.