Noemí Pizarro Contreras

Background

First and foremost, I am a mathematics teacher. I worked for seven years in the school system, teaching in both public and private schools. I have always enjoyed teaching mathematics, especially geometry and measurement.

Alongside my teaching career, I completed a Master’s degree in Mathematics Education at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. Although I learned a great deal, I found that my studies did not fully answer the questions that emerged from my classroom practice. I increasingly felt a growing gap between my academic knowledge and my professional experience as a teacher.

Afterwards, I worked for educational publishing companies and as an educational consultant, adapting my academic knowledge to address teachers’ practical concerns. At the same time, I began teaching pre-service teachers at both public and private universities. It was during this period that I realized I needed to pursue a doctoral degree in order to secure a permanent academic position. Moreover, I wanted to conduct research and, to be honest, take a step away from an educational system with which I found it increasingly difficult to identify.

Thanks to a scholarship from the Chilean government, I completed both a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Mathematics and Science Education at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Initially, I intended to focus my research on the teaching of geometry using ruler and compass. However, a lecture on measurement estimation delivered by Josep Callís, a professor at the University of Girona, completely captured my interest. At the same time, Chile was undergoing a major curriculum reform, with measurement becoming a central strand of the mathematics curriculum. Under the supervision of Lluís Albarracín, I devoted my doctoral research to the study of measurement estimation—a topic that continues to inspire my research today.

After returning to Chile, I continued researching the teaching and learning of measurement. Working closely with teachers in classrooms, I observed that the available teaching resources were quite limited. At the same time, I began to question approaches to mathematics education that focused exclusively on cognitive aspects. I felt that social and human rights needed to become part of my academic work in order to give greater meaning to my teaching. I also noticed that whenever I incorporated stories into my lessons, students became more engaged and were better able to reason about real-world contexts through mathematical thinking.

These experiences motivated me to complete professional diploma programs in creative writing, with the goal of writing stories that teach mathematics while simultaneously promoting citizenship education. In 2025, these stories were published, a milestone that brought me great satisfaction. Since then, I have had the opportunity to present them in various countries and educational settings, where they have been very well received.

Today, I continue to research the knowledge teachers need to effectively teach measurement, write new educational stories, and prepare future mathematics teachers. And yes, I always proudly emphasize that, above all, I am a mathematics teacher.