The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Challenge for Values in School Mathematics in Iran

Abstract

World is divided into six continent and within each, there are many separate regions called "countries". Some are called "first world", trying to dominate the others whom are known as "third world" and rarely, people enquire about the "second world" in between (We are aware of this political/ideological division as aftermath of the World War II and the notion of "three worlds" suggested by Mao Zedong)! The claim is that this division has nothing to do with "ranking" the countries, but it is culturally weird to hear "ordinal numbers" and not giving them "values" of either "priority" or "inferiority"! And in the midst of everything, the world faced a horrible phenomenon called Covid-19 that soon became a pandemic! Within a short period of time, the whole world, despite of any ranking, felt how fragile and hopeless is in the battle with this monster! And yet, it is soon to expect that decision makers who govern the world, must be aware that without well- being of everyone, there is no other way to defeat the virus. This is an irony! Isn't it? No matter how wealthy or poor, dominant or dominated, so- called developed or developing the countries are, in our view, they only have one solution to this devastating problem that is to know that the world is connected and no part of it is in joy while others are in pain! Hopefully, we are entering a new era of deeper understanding of what humanity is! A big lesson to be taught by the opportunity that Covid-19 created for human beings! Thus far, Corona and Covid-19 pandemic is not just a treat but a wake- up call for humanity to believe that "If you've no sympathy for human pain, the name of human you cannot retain!"

Keywords

• values
• school mathematics
• implicit vs. explicit values
• covid-19 pandemic
• face to face vs. virtual education