The voice of the child  

Ours is 'a holistic view of learning, in which mathematics is seen within the context of all the child’s meaning-making and learning:   

• The child is at the centre: the child develops spontaneous concepts through ample freedom to explore; drawing on her own cultural knowledge; making meaning and communicating ideas in ways of her choosing, supported by, and in collaboration with peers and adults
• In social contexts, children have agency in their learning, through their play and explorations in open contexts, and are free to build on and cultivate their own knowledge in partnership with their families, peers and teachers. They are active learners in all aspects of their learning' (Worthington,

          2021, p. 118).

Children's own voices are evident in all our examples, and in our research, and is underpinned by article 13 of the United Nations Rights of the Child (1989). 

Article 13: United Nations Rights of the Child

1. The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice (UNHCR, 1989). 

    Wall et al., (2019) emphasise that supporting children's voices 'starts from the premise that if we are to foster democratic skills and understanding in children and young people, we need to develop practices that support this from the earliest age.' Høines (2004, p. 81) questions, 'How [do] we manage to organise for inclusion of the variety of children’s mathematics. How do we organise for the mathematics to be included into their mathematics? A message from children about what they expect mathematics to be has impact on this complexity.'

References

Høines, M. J. (2004)  Do we welcome children’s mathematics? Who are we? Proceedings of the 28th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, 2004, 1, pp. 81-86.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the child (1989). 

Wall, K., Cassidy, C., Mitra, D., Robinson, C., Hall, E., Beaton, M., Kanyal, M., & Mitra, D. (2019). Look who’s talking: Factors for considering the facilitation of very young children’s voices. Journal of Early Childhood Research 17(4).

Worthington, M. (2021). The emergence and development of young children’s personal mathematical inscriptions: The evolution of graphical signs explored through children’s spontaneous pretend play. [Doctoral Dissertation]. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.