These two quotes guide my teaching:

“Mathematics could be like roller-skating, 

but usually it’s like being told to stop roller-skating and come in and tidy your room.”

Richard Winter (2009) " ‘Mathophobia’, pythagoras and roller‐skating."

“There is a danger that mathematics is seen by children as something in which they learn about other people’s ideas, particularly yours, 

and it has nothing to do with them.”

Anita Straker (1993) 

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