Clear Canadian Presence at the 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education
Members of the Canadian Mathematics Society (CMS) / Société mathematiqué du Canada (SMC) are, no doubt, familiar with the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), which will next take place in 2026 in Philadelphia, USA. CMS Members may be less familiar, however, with the International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME), which recently took place, July 7th to 14th, 2024, in Sydney, Australia. I was pleased to attend ICME-15 (the well-accepted acronym for the 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education), and even further pleased to see a clear Canadian presence at the largest international conference on mathematics education in the world.
For the uninitiated, attending ICME-15 could have been a little overwhelming. Each day of the conference, which ran from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm, meant navigating the many floors of Sydney’s International Convention Centre, along with 2321 other Delegates from around the world, to make your way to some combination of 4 Plenary Lectures, 2 Plenary Panels, 30 Discussion Groups and 85 Workshops. ICME-15 required proper personal planning. Proper planning is important, sure, but pivots to a conference plan are just as important or, stated in the words of Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the face”. Afterall, this is a quadrennial event, which, as stated on the conference website (https://icme15.org), “is organised under the auspices of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction [ICMI] and explores current global trends in mathematics education research and mathematics teaching practices at all levels”. In other words, in addition to proper planning and proper pivots, attendees might even be dealing with FOMO (fear of missing out) or YOLO (you only live once). Lest we forget, conferences do not just take place during conference hours!
Me, I think I did a pretty good job navigating my ICME-15, which, in large part, is because I had cut my teeth attending ICME-12 (Seoul, Korea), ICME-13 (Hamburg, Germany) and ICME-14 (a hybrid event held in Shanghai, China). As the saying goes, it doesn’t get easier, you just get better. With three previous ICMEs under my belt, I knew, for example, the little markers I could use for skipping sessions on which I was waffling; the best seats in the house, by far, for Plenary Lectures; how to identify potentially quarrelsome question and answer periods; and, which line ups, for coffee and food (and wine), will move the quickest. The important stuff! My attendance at previous ICMEs also allowed me to identify, as alluded to earlier, a clear Canadian presence at ICME-15.
The Scientific Program for the largest international conference on mathematics education in the world includes a variety of Formal ICME program and Delegate-led activities. ICMEs include, for example, Plenary Lectures; Plenary Panels; Survey Team Reports; ICMI Studies; Invited Lectures; Topic Study Groups (TSGs); Discussion Groups; Workshops; National Presentations; ICMI Activities (e.g., Awardee Lectures, ICMI Affiliate Lectures, ICMI Studies); and an Early Career Researchers Program. From Plenary Lectures to Early Career Researchers Program and everything in between, Canadians (as shown in the picture) were everywhere.
According to ICME-15’s Second Announcement, Plenary Lectures “recognize substantial and continuing contributions to the growth of the field of Mathematics Education”, and kicking off Canadians being everywhere at ICME-15, the Opening Plenary Lecture was delivered by (Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in STEM Teaching and Learning) Rina Zazkis, Simon Fraser University. With honesty, humility and humour Rina’s well-deserved lecture was well received by attendees from all over the world.
Florence Glanfield, University of Alberta, as Leader of the Mathematics Education and Indigenous Perspectives Survey Team, commissioned by the International Program Committee (IPC) to “review identifying and characterising important new knowledge, recent developments, new perspective, and emergent issues, and each team will report their finding and recommendation at the Congress”, had her Survey Team Report similarly well received. I would be remiss, here, not to mention that other Canadians, for example, Olive Chapman (IPC Member) and Kim Koh, University of Calgary and Daniel Ansari, Western University, were differently involved (as IPC Liason or Member) with other Survey Team Reports.
Canadians were also requested to give 5 of the 62 total Invited Lectures at ICME-15. Although personally unable to attend each of the Invited Lectures of Lisa Lunney Borden, St. Francis Xavier University (President CMESG), Edward Doolittle, First Nations University (Adrien Pouliot Award Winner, 2023), Annie Savard, McGill University, Nathalie Sinclair, Simon Fraser University and Hassane Squalli, Université de Sherbrooke, Canadian colleagues, over coffee, were pleased to report on how well each of the lectures went. Congratulations to the Invited Lecturers at ICME-15.
I could, at this point, continue on and on about Canadian involvement at ICME-15. I could mention the over-a-baker’s-dozen Canadians that were Co-Chairs or Members of the Topic Study Groups (TSGs) or the numerous Canadians that contributed a Paper submission or Poster proposal to one of the 51 different TSGs, which is the beating heart, in my opinion, of any ICME. I could, similarly, mention Canadians that were involved as Discussion Group Coordinators (e.g., Viktor Freiman, Université de Moncton) or the Early Career Research Program (David Wagner, University of New Brunswick), and then continue to comment on the well-done work of PhD students and Postdoctoral researchers at Canadian universities. I will, instead, point you to the ICME-15 website (https://icme15.org) where you can, yourself, confirm a clear Canadian presence at ICME-15.
I will also, instead, take a moment to explain a weird phenomenon that I experience attending ICMEs as a Canadian working in the field of mathematics education. Akin to social capital, Canadian Conference Capital (as I call it) is a term I use to describe the networks of relationships among the people who live and work in the field of mathematics education in Canada, which enables our little society to function effectively (for the most part). No matter the conference I attend, no matter where it is held, I see Canadian colleagues hugging, catching up over coffee, lunching, going for runs together, organizing group dinners and photos, asking if So-and-So is at the conference, drinking beer together, asking each other if they have eaten kangaroo yet, and on and on. Ultimately, then, not only was there a clear Canadian presence at ICME-15, but Canadian Conference Capital was on full display, which made me quite proud.
I have no doubt that the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG) / Groupe Canadien d’Étude en Didactique des Mathématiques (GCEDM), which is held every year, is where said capital is built. As a member of the CMS, should you be interested in CMESG, I can say, for sure, that you would be warmly welcomed by the group. As stated on the website (https://www.cmesg.org): “Regular membership of the Study Group shall be open to mathematicians and mathematics educators in Canada who accept the aims of the Group.” So, while I look forward to attending the 2024 CMS Winter Meeting held in Vancouver in a few months, should you have any questions about CMESG 2025 held at the University of Lethbridge or even ICME-16 which will be held in Prague, Czech Republic in 2028 then I would be happy to make your acquaintance in Vancouver.
