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There are many deep epistemological differences between the domains of research in mathematics and in mathematics education. But there are also striking differences on the level of social behaviour of researchers in the two domains. These reveal themselves especially in the way the two groups hold their congresses. A typical participant of an ICME congress is most of the time engaged in discussion or conversation with n fellow participants, where n>1. Typical participants of an ICM congress rarely form groups with more than two elements. No time is allotted for discussions after lectures in an ICM. In an ICME congress the only lectures after which there is no time for discussion are the four plenary lectures. All the 45-minute lectures (there were around 60 such talks in Seville) are followed by 15-minute discussions. A major part of the programme is occupied by panel discussions, international round tables, working groups and topic groups, presentations of study groups, etc. Mathematics education is still a domain where it is not possible to remain a specialist in a narrow field of research: a broad view of the many aspects of the teaching and learning processes of mathematics, psychological, social, political, institutional, epistemological, cognitive, is necessary. This makes the discussions possible and fruitful.
Another important feature of the group of ICME participants is its enormous heterogeneity with regard to professional occupations and interests : primary school teachers, secondary school teachers, teacher trainers, university mathematics professors, researchers with a background in general education, researchers with a background in mathematics, representing a large variety of research programs and paradigms, ministry officers, national curriculum developers, etc. While this heterogeneity is beneficial for the domain as a whole and helps to keep the researchers’ feet on the ground, it also accounts for what participants experience as "problems of communication". It may moreover have a role in the creation of an atmosphère of "carnival" or "marketplace", since when people's backgrounds and interests diverge too much they can only communicate on a very superficial, ludic or commercial level (e.g. advertising the software they are using or the texts they are producing).
There is, however, one concern that is shared by everybody in mathematics education, and this is : how to make as much mathematics as possible accessible to as many as possible. Related to this question is the theme : 'Making mathematics in the world visible to the world' which ICMI (the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction) has chosen as its way of involvement in the activities related to the celebration of the WMY 2000. In Seville, the EC of ICMI decided to appoint an ad hoc Committee with the task of preparing the ICMI's contribution to the WMY 2000 and which will be in charge of planning related activities especially on the occasion of the 9th ICME which will be held in Japan, Tokyo/Makuhari, in precisely the year 2000.
Anna SIERPINSKA