The views of lay numeracy instructors in a Freirean literacy program

In this study we examine the view of a group of lay instructors in a non-formal, adult literacy program about what it is to teach mathematics based on a Freirean conception of education. The instructors exhibited great clarity about Freire’s pedagogy and issues about critical or dialectical numeracy that have been raised before in the literature. Some of them pose contradictions, such as a focus in mathematics versus an interdisciplinary approach to education; the interplay between technical competence and political commitment; and using contextualizations of mathematics for a critical reading of the world while time attending to students’ educational aspirations. Keywords: Critical mathematics, dialectical education, numeracy, Paulo Freire