We Can Solve It! A Financial Justice Ireland Resource for the Junior Cycle Mathematics Curriculum

Description

Teaching Mathematics for Social Justice (TMfSJ) is an approach to mathematics education that has become increasingly visible around the globe. The principles and approach of TMfSJ greatly align with the aim of integrating issues relating to financial justice and development education with the teaching and learning of mathematics at post-primary level in Ireland.”

We Can Solve It! provides tailored activities which link learning outcomes from across the maths curriculum to global justice, financial justice & sustainable development. The resource:

• Promotes the eight key skills and the five inter-connected proficiencies highlighted in the Mathematics Specification, as well as 10 statements of learning.
• Includes ideas for Classroom projects, where students can explore phenomena from the world around them.(Each of the scenarios starts with a question and then “students work with others to mathematise the situation, and source or generate data which they analyse and report on.”)
• Reflects the investigation cycle of posing a question, finding the maths, interpreting the
  maths, engaging with the problem and answering the question (where possible) or redefining the
  question.
• Designed to reflect the four areas of activity involved in the Classroom Based Assessments in 2nd and 3rd year.
• Introduces and covers a range of concepts, including GDP, tax, just tax systems, privatisation, national debt (and ‘debt per citizen’), Healthy Life Expectancy, CO2 emissions and more.

The resource is organised into three sections:

Section 1 – What’s happiness got to do with it? An Exploration of Economics and Happiness

Section 2 – National debt and taxation

Section 3 – Environmental sustainability.