Mathematics : dead or alive!

![CDATA[We use the word 'vital' in different ways depending on the context involved. For example, if we want to describe a person, we refer to their vital statistics, i.e., usually the date of their birth, marriage and/or death. Vital functions usually relate to a person's heart, liver or lung organs. If we say something is of vital importance, we are referring to a circumstance without which nothing can successfully proceed. So how do we relate mathematics to this? Is a person's success or failure in mathematics a matter of a statistic? Is it a vital function? Is it of such importance that life cannot go on? What we believe mathematics is about and how it functions will determine the answers to these questions. Should teachers be making mathematics vital or is this the task of the learner alone? These are fascinating questions which need to be explored together with possible pathways for gaining further understanding. How the AAMT Standards for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics in Australian Schools helps in this regard must be considered.]]