Lets Mathematize!

- Lessons from Practice

Concept Note
Mathematics is a way of giving order to the world around us (Jacobs 1970 ! "his is the all#encompassing and the most convincing way to describe the discipline of mathematics! $ll of us go about our lives ordering% reasoning and abstracting from what we observe and yet many of us &cannot do mathematics' or many of us do not (now &why we have to do mathematics)'! *iving with this contradiction is ta(ing its toll on the young students and adults of our society because some of them study to become teachers and continue the legacy! "racing the math#history of students who li(e% disli(e or &manage' the sub+ect% the role and impact of the maths teacher stands out prominently! $ccording to the ,ocio# cultural perspective on cognition and learning% students' attitude towards the sub+ect is directly correlated with the e-periences they have about mathematics classroom (.ound% /001 ! "he following studies highlight the teacher's central position in assisting students to appropriate mathematics as cultural (nowledge! 0oos' (/001 study titled Learning Mathematics in a Classroom Community of Inquiry has e-amined the teaching and learning practices of a teacher who attempted to create a culture of in2uiry in a secondary school mathematics classroom! "he study showed how the teacher established norms and practices that emphasi3ed mathematical sense-making and ustification of ideas! ,teele's (/001 study titled !sing "ociocultural theory to teach mathematics# $ %ygotskian Pers&ecti'e% describes an elementary teacher's implementation of socio#cultural theory in practice! $ccording to her% communication is central to learning in a socio#cultural approach to teaching and within this framewor( individual learning is profoundly influenced by participation in cultural practices! ,tudents construct mathematical meaning as they share their reasoning (4attista%1999% Cobb and 5ac(el% 1996 and learning mathematics involves participation in certain established mathematics cultural practices! $ll the above studies assume an emotionally secure and positive learning environment! "he math teacher thus is the prime transactor of the curriculum and her agency cannot be undermined! "eachers need to be aware of the delicate connection between positive e-periences during early mathematics learning and long#term positive disposition towards the sub+ect!

&*earning without 4urden' (1997 was the first government document to recognise the burden of incomprehension faced by school students in all sub+ects including mathematics! "his was a welcome step as we had +ust started to recognise the tip of the iceberg! "wo ma+or documents need to be mentioned here that have ta(en the cause of this document forward! 8ne is (he Position &a&er on (eaching of Mathematics (/009 and other is the National Curricular :ramewor( for "eacher ;ducation% NC:"; (/009 ! "he .osition .aper has emphasised the importance of heuristics) estimation) &ro*lem sol'ing and mathematical communication during teaching of mathematics! "he NC:"; (/009 envisages teacher education to be liberal% humanistic and responsive to the needs of inclusive education that can translate into culture specific and multilevel pedagogy! <t also tal(s of diverse learning spaces and reflective practice as the central aim of teacher education and goes on to mention that a teacher can provide a variety of learning e-periences to children that may include singing% play acting% playing with numbers% drawing maps or pictures% observing% collecting specimens% pro+ect wor(% field visits among others! <n spite of many more documents having been published since Inde&endence these t+o ha'e mentioned the im&ortance of teacher &re&aredness in making math cogniti'ely accessi*le to all, 4aner+ee(/01/ has pointed out that teacher education programs have not changed much in light of the NC:(/006 and its related documents mentioned above and they remain the &wea(est lin(' in our education system! =hile tracing the trends in mathematics education research in <ndia she recommends an engagement with deeper issues of teaching and learning mathematics that include meaning ma(ing% understanding classroom cultures% socio#economic#political 2uestions and affect and mathematics among others! "he proposed conference is an attempt to address this lacuna and to e-plicate the previously mentioned connection for would#be math teachers as these are the formative years of an inspired professional! 8ur aim is to bring together >esearchers and .ractitioners in the area of mathematics education to introduce the student# teachers to new approaches in the field that are different from the traditional sub+ect view of mathematics so that it loses the &e-clusivity' tag! (his +e ho&e can hel& create ha&&y math teachers +ho like *eing +ith) around and engaging +ith the su* ect,

>eferences?

4aner+ee% >! (/01/ ! Mathematics ;ducation >esearch in <ndia? <ssues and Challenges! Mathematics Education in India: Status and Outlook ! @omi 4haba Centre for ,cience ;ducation! Mumbai! 4attista% M! "! (1999 ! :ifth gradersA enumeration of cubes in 7B arrays? Conceptual progress in an in2uiry#based classroom! Journal for Research in Mathematics Education % 70% 117#11C! <n ,teele% B! :! (/001 ! Dsing ,ociocultural "heory to teach Mathematics? $ Eygots(ian .erspective! School Science and Mathematics% Eol! 101! Cobb% .!% F 5ac(el% ;! (1996 ! Constructivist% emergent% and sociocultural perspectives in the conte-t of developmental research! <n B!"! 8wens% M!G! >eed% F 0!M! Millsaps (;ds! % .roceedings of the 17th annual meeting of the North $merican chapter of the <nternational 0roup for the .sychology of Mathematics ;ducation (Eol! 1% pp! 7#/9 ! Columbus 8@? ;><C Clearinghouse for ,cience% Mathematics% and ;nvironmental ;ducation! <n ,teele% B! :! (/001 ! Dsing ,ociocultural "heory to teach Mathematics? $ Eygots(ian .erspective! School Science and Mathematics% Eol! 101! 0oos% M! (/001 ! *earning Mathematics in a classroom Community of <n2uiry! Journal for Research in Mathematics Education! Eolume 76% No! 1% /6C#/91! Jacobs% @! >!% (1970 (;d! % Mathematics? $ @uman ;ndeavor! ,an :rancisco? =!@! :reeman! Ministry of @uman >esource and Bevelopment (1997 ! Learning ithout burden: Report of the !ational "dvisory committee appointed by the Ministry of #uman Resource $evelopment% New Belhi? M@>B! National Council for "eacher ;ducation(/009 ! !ational curriculum frame ork for &eacher Education% New Belhi! National Council of ;ducational >esearch and "raining (/006 ! !ational curriculum frame ork% New Belhi? NC;>"! National Council of ;ducational >esearch and "raining (/009 ! !ational focus group on teaching of mathematics report% New Belhi? NC;>"! .ound! *% (1999 ! (ed! ! Supporting Mathematical development in the Early 'ears% 8pen Dniversity .ress! .hiladelphia! ,teele% B! :!% (/001 ! Dsing ,ociocultural "heory to teach Mathematics? $ Eygots(ian .erspective! School Science and Mathematics% Eol! 101!

Lets Mathematize!- Lessons from Practice -ay .# "ession . /Morning ,ession

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9?70 to 9?16 a!m# .rayer song followed by introduction to the Conference 9?16 to 10?00a!m ## <nauguration 4y "he .rincipal% ,ister Marina 10?00 to 11?00 a!mHGey Note $ddress by .rof! .! ,inclair ( "o spea( on the need to
change focus of math teaching from one# answer to open#ended 2uestioning and ;-plorative mathematics

11?00 to 11?16a!m##Iuestioning and <nteraction 11?16 to 11?16a!mJ "ea

"ession 0
11?16 to 1/?16 a!m ##.rof 4harti 4awe+a ( "o spea( on the significance of $uthentic tas(s
and ,ituated .ractices as the corner stones of creative and fle-ible thin(ing in mathematics

1/?16to 1/?70a!m## Iuestioning and <nteraction 1/?70to 1?00 p!mH .rof! Jayshree ,ubramanium ( "o spea( on content issues in
mathematics ;ducation

1?00 to 1?16 p!m ## Iuestioning and <nteraction 1?16 to /?16 p!m J*unch

"ession 1
/?16 to 7?16 J "rials and "riumphs of being a Mathematics teacher# .anel Biscussion
.articipants include school and college teachers who have been practicing in the field for many years!

7?16to 7?70p!m## Iuestioning and <nteraction

"ession 2
7?70to 1?70p!m J <ntroduction to .osterK .aper .resentation and <nteraction
.osterK .aper invites to be sent to various colleges involved in teacher education% B<;"s and ,chools with the aim to share effective and innovative pedagogic ideas on a common platform! ;ntries to include poster or .apers% students wor((:ield data % videos etc! .articipants interact with audience in small groups at the delegated venues!

Bay ;nds

-ay 0# "ession .
9?70 to 9?16 a!m J .rayer ,ong followed by <ntroduction to day /

9?16 to 10?16## .rof! $nita >ampal ("o spea( on her wor( with wor(ing class children on mathematics in @oshangabad! K constructing the ncert te-tK math as a co constructing activity ! 10?16 to 10?16 a!m## Iuestioning and <nteraction 10?16 to 11?16 a!mH $rvind 0upta ("o spea( on >ealistic mathematics! 11?16 to 11?70 a!m## Iuestioning and <nteraction 11?70 to 11?16 a!m J "ea

"ession 0
11?16 to 1/?16 p!m J Br!DshaMenon and ,hah+i (Jodo0yan% Belhi
"o spea( on Jodogyan's sustained endeavour to wor( with the 0overnment run schools still teaching the traditional way! @ow they accessed and convinced them to teach the construtivist way!

1/?16 to 1?16 p!mJBr!0eet8beroi (8r(ids % Belhi Byscalculia# an autobiography' 1?16 to 1?70 p!m J<nteraction 1?70 to /?70 p!m J*unch

("o spea( on &*iving with

"ession 1
/?70 to 7?70 p!m .anel Biscussion of Math teacher educators (4!;d and 4!;l!;d @aneet 0andhi% ,ona $ndrew% Jona(i 0hosh% $shu "hare+a% Jyoti ,harma Chaired by 7?70 to 7?16p!m## <nteraction 7?16 to 1?16 p!mH"heatre as a .edagogic tool to teach mathematics
"heatre .resentation by 4!;l!;d students!

1?16 to 1?70 p!mHEote of "han(sK Ealedictory session!