Education systems around the world are talking about "lifelong learning", "futures", "critical literacies", and so on. What do these things mean in the context of being a teacher of mathematics? In this article, the author attempts to put these things into perspective. She contends that, in clarifying any situation that requires some mathematical application, teachers need to be modelling and teaching students how to ask questions, how to identify issues, how to focus on what is required, how to verbalise their thinking processes as they do this and how to organise their thinking.