Introduction

This chapter introduces connections between virtuous pursuits that lead to fulfillment and human flourishing and the practice of mathematics. For this book, virtue refers to both an embodiment of an ideal, and an ideal itself. Play, for example, is something we can do and, also, something we can seek. This connection to virtue is framed through a lens of rehumanizing mathematics in the elementary classrooms such that students’ instructional experience is expanded to include connections to their cultures, emotions, and lived experiences. This approach to teaching reflects a profound value of repositioning math as a human endeavor – as a powerful tool for human expression and enlightenment. Several examples from the field are presented for initial exploration including a foray into drawing playfulness out of the elementary mathematical experience.