Teaching mathematics to address fundamental human rights

Mathematics is one of the most important subjects in the curriculum, central to so many areas of life and academic disciplines. Yet students – and people widely – struggle with mathematics possibly more than with any other subject. It is the right of every human being to know and understand mathematics relative to the context and purpose for which it is needed. These statements have profound implications for the teaching of mathematics. In this short monograph (a written version of my inaugural lecture for the Donders Chair at the University of Utrecht) I address the following questions about the role of teaching: . What does it mean to teach mathematics? . What are the characteristics of “good” teaching of mathematics? . How does/can “good teaching” develop? Because it is hard to address “what is good teaching?” in a simple way at the outset, I will start with another question: How can we teach mathematics for the effective learning of our students?