SI CFP: Mathematics Education and Human Flourishing in the context of AI: Enabling, Unenabling, and Disenabling Practices

[Mathematics Education Researchers (MER) community]

The notion of human flourishing is rooted in Aristotelian philosophy and refers to the development of capacities, strengths, and virtues, as well as a sense of meaning, purpose, and connection that provide the basis for living a good life – as an individual and as an active, responsible, and supportive member of a community. As part of the project High Performing Systems for Tomorrow (HPST), the OECD has identified three principles on which education for human flourishing should be based, spanning the academic, the caring and the creative, aimed at the design of fair and sustainable models of society in which people’s lives have purpose and meaning (OECD, 2024). A significant aspect of this project is to explore the notion of Education for human flourishing and artificial intelligence (AI) through a focus on three themes: AI and broadening human capabilities; AI and developing new models for the future; AI and restoring meaning to individual lives.

In this special issue (SI), authors will address the practices in mathematics education that enable or hinder human flourishing in the context of the rapid development and integration of AI technologies into education curriculum and teaching/learning programs internationally. In particular, the SI will address questions related to what humans can achieve with AI – the opportunities that come with the technology, as well as associated risks. These questions go to the centrality of what mathematics education must be – not only imparting discipline knowledge, but also its role in the personal and social development of both young people and adults. This is a key issue in setting direction for the field, because of the many decisions that are possibly made by algorithms in today’s societies. In other words, how should mathematics education, in the age of algorithmic decision-making processes, be conceptualised in a way that it contributes to human flourishing in the broadest sense.

Current research in mathematics education increasingly recognises that education does not merely serve to impart content or skills, but also contributes significantly to the development of individual and collective agency, identity, and participation (e.g., Siller et al., 2025). This includes concerns about the role of mathematics education in addressing the global challenges of our time, such associal and ecological concerns or disruptions (e.g., Geiger et al., 2023). Against this backdrop, questions about the role of mathematics education practices and their implications in fostering productive and happy lives for individuals and functioning, cohesive, and harmonious communities are becoming increasingly the centre of discussion. This discussion has only recently included the nature and role of AI technologies, for example, adaptive learning systems, automated diagnostic tools, and/or generative language models (e.g., Andersson & Valero, 2024). These technologies are increasingly embedded in educational practices and are fundamentally changing the nature of teaching and learning.

The contributions to this special issue aim to explore how mathematics education in connection with artificial intelligence can support and advance people on the one hand, but also exclude or disadvantage them on the other – key considerations for human flourishing. Thus, the SI will include contributions that:

• examine AI-related practices in mathematics education that promote or limit participation,

• reflect on the epistemological and ethical prerequisites and consequences of using AI in mathematics education,

• analyse the relationship between humans, AI as technology and education in the light of

philosophical concepts such as dignity, autonomy, care, and justice,

• develop alternative visions for individual-oriented mathematics education in the age of

digital transformation through, with, and because of AI.

Empirical studies as well as conceptual and theoretical contributions that bring interdisciplinary perspectives – for example, from philosophy, sociology, technology research, or educational science – into the mathematics education discussion are welcome. The SI is intended as a forum for in-depth discussion of how mathematics education can be designed under the conditions of algorithmic systems in order to provide learners not only with knowledge, but also with orientation, self-efficacy, and critical judgement in order to flourish. The aim is to contribute to the development of a reflective, ethically grounded, and forward-looking mathematics education that acknowledges responsibility for shaping a just, inclusive, and equitable educational world.

EDITORIAL PROCESS: 

Submissions should be written according to the journal’s submission guidelines, available here. Online submission: please use the journal's Online Manuscript Submission System (Editorial Manager). Please note that paper submissions via email are not accepted. 

All papers will undergo the journal's standard review procedure (double-blind peer review), according to the journal's Peer Review Policy, Process, and Guidance. 

Reviewers will be selected according to the Peer Reviewer Selection policies. 

This journal offers the option to publish Open Access. You are allowed to publish Open Access through Open Choice. Please explore the OA options available through your institution by referring to our list of OA Transformative Agreements. 

Once papers are accepted, they will be made available as Online articles publications until final publication into an issue and available as well on the Collections page.

For any questions, please contact the Lead Guest Editors directly: Hans-Stefan Siller (hans-stef...@uni-wuerzburg.de), Vince Geiger (Vincent...@acu.edu.au)

More: https://link.springer.com/collections/daaccciadg

REFERENCES:

Andersson, C. & Valero, P. (2024). Mathematical AI-modeling in the socio-ecological: futuring critical mathematics education. In Le Roux, K., Coles, A., Solares-Rojas, A., Bose, A., Vistro-Yu, C., Valero, P., Sinclair, N., et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 27th ICMI Study Conference (Mathematics Education and the Socio-Ecological) (pp. 416-423). ICMI.

Geiger, V., Gal, I., & Graven, M. (2023). The Connections Between Mathematics Education and Citizenship Education. ZDM Mathematics Education, 55, 923–940. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-023-01521-3

Geiger, V., Galbriath, P., Niss, M., & Schmid, M. (2025). Identifying and describing generic, specific, and catalytic enablers of mathematical modelling. ZDM Mathematics Education, 57(2/3). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-025-01653-8 (pages to be assigned)

Geiger, V. & Schmid, M. (2024). A critical turn in numeracy education and practice. Frontiers in Education, 9(1363566). https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1363566

Hershkovitz, A., Noster, N., Siller, H.-S., & Tabach, M. (2024). Learning analytics in mathematics education: the case of feedback use in a digital classification task on reflective symmetry. ZDM - Mathematics Education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11858-024-01551-5

Noster, N., Gerber, S. & Siller, H.-S. (2024). Pre-Service Teachers’ Approaches in Solving Mathematics Tasks with ChatGPT. Digit Exp Math Educ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40751-024-00155-8

Noster, N., Hershkovitz, A., Tabach, M., Siller, H.-S. (2022). Learners’ Strategies in Interactive Sorting Tasks. In: Hilliger, I., Muñoz-Merino, P.J., De Laet, T., Ortega-Arranz, A., Farrell, T. (Eds.) Educating for a New Future: Making Sense of Technology-Enhanced Learning Adoption. EC-TEL 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13450. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16290-9_21

Noster, N. & Siller, H.-S. (2025). Transforming equations into equivalent equations – an empirical study of the equation transformation capability as a multidimensional construct. Educational Studies in Mathematics.

Noster, N. & Weigand, H.-G. (Eds.) (2019). Mathematische Erkundungen – Praxiserprobte Unterrichtseinheiten mit digitalen Werkzeugen [Mathematical explorations - field-tested teaching material with digital tools]. Würzburg: Mathematik-Lehr-Netzwerk (MaLeNe). https://mathematik-lehr-netzwerk.de/download/mathematischeerkundungen/

OECD (2024). Pisa high performing systems for tomorrow: education for human flourishing.

https://one.oecd.org/document/EDU/PISA/GB(2024)10/en/pdf

Schmid, M., Brianza, E., & Petko, D. (2020). Developing a short assessment instrument for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK.xs) and comparing the factor structure of an integrative and a transformative model. Computers & Education, 157(103967), https://doi.org/10.1016/j. compedu.2020.103967

Schmid, M., Brianza, E., & Petko, D. (2021). Self-reported technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) of pre-service teachers in relation to digital technology use in lesson plans. Computers in Human Behavior, 115 (106586). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106586

Siller, H.-S., Vorhölter, K., Just, J., Orschulik, A., & Zieriacks, C. (2025). Empirical Differentiation of Student Competencies in ESD. In K. le Roux, A. Coles, A. Solares-Rojas, A. Bose, C. P. Vistro-Yu, P. Valero, N. Sinclair, M. Makramalla, R. Gutiérrez, V. Geiger, & M. Borba (Eds.), Proceedings of the 27th ICMI Study Conference (Mathematics Education and the Socio-Ecological) (pp. 503-510). MATHTED and ICMI. https://www.mathunion.org/icmi/icmi-study-27

Skovsmose, O., Moura, A. Q., & Carrijo, M. (2023). Inclusive citizenship through mathematics education: A conceptual investigation. ZDM—Mathematics Education, 55, 941–951.