Possibilities of the COVID-19 pandemic context for statistics education: some reflections

The COVID-19 pandemic is a worldwide epidemiological event in which is demonstrated the power of information, science, mathematics, and statistics to understand policies and impacts on citizen’s behavior and public health. People’s access to statistical information related to pandemic demanded the mobilization of technical knowledge and their experiences and contextual knowledge. Also, to critically analyze the dissemination of inaccurate or wrong data and the proliferation of misinformation, the general population needs to develop statistical literacy, which will enable them to identify and avoid being influenced by misleading statistical data. The health crisis resulting from the pandemic is adding to other urgent problems that afflict humanity. In this challenging context, it seems important to rethink the role of mathematics education and statistical education. This paper aims to reflect on statistics education based on the guidelines of the curriculum and teachers’ engagement in implementing projects that involve cross-cutting contemporary themes, can make people more supportive and aware of their role in the post-pandemic world.