How can school mathematics prepare citizens for a democratic society? Answers to this question are not static; they change as society and its problems change. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic with its corresponding disease COVID-19 presents such a problem: what is needed to navigate this complex situation that involves, among other things, mathematics? Using the essay genre, we use three narratives from three countries—Italy, the USA (California), and Germany—to reflect on the goals of teaching mathematics during this crisis and examine aspects of each country’s standards for mathematics education. These three stories are framed by the authors’ backgrounds, experiences, interests, their country’s situation, and response to the pandemic. We first present the three narratives and then examine common issues across them that might provide insights beyond this current crisis, for preparing students to become active citizens. In particular, we focus on three issues: (1) developing a positive mindset toward mathematics to engage with and reflect on real-world problems, (2) improving interdisciplinary connections to the sciences to better understand how science professional practices and insights are similar or different from everyday practices, and (3) considering interpersonal and collective matters beyond the individual.

学校数学如何让公民为民主社会做好准备？这个问题的答案不是一成不变的。它们随着社会及其问题的变化而变化。SARS-CoV-2 大流行及其相应的疾病 COVID-19 提出了这样一个问题：需要什么来应对这种涉及数学等复杂情况的情况？使用散文体裁，我们使用来自三个国家（意大利、美国（加利福尼亚）和德国）的三种叙述来反思这场危机期间的数学教学目标，并检查每个国家数学教育标准的各个方面。这三个故事是由作者的背景、经历、兴趣、他们的国家情况和对大流行的反应构成的。我们首先介绍这三种叙述，然后检查它们之间的共同问题，这些问题可能会提供当前危机之外的见解，以帮助学生做好成为积极公民的准备。特别是，我们关注三个问题：（1）培养对数学的积极心态，以参与和反思现实世界的问题，（2）改善与科学的跨学科联系，以更好地了解科学专业实践和见解如何相似或不同于日常实践，以及 (3) 考虑个人以外的人际和集体事务。