Lets Mathematize!

- Lessons from Practice

Concept Note
Mathematics is a way of giving order to the world around us (Jacobs 1970). This is the allencompassing and the most convincing way to describe the discipline of mathematics. All 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 know why we have to do mathematics?. Living with this contradiction is taking its toll on the young students and adults of our society because some of them study to become teachers and continue the legacy. Tracing the math-history of students who like, dislike or manage the subject, the role and impact of the maths teacher stands out prominently. According to the Socio-cultural perspective on cognition and learning, students attitude towards the subject is directly correlated with the experiences they have about mathematics classroom (Pound, 2001). The following studies highlight the teachers central position in assisting stude nts to appropriate mathematics as cultural knowledge. Goos (2004) study titled Learning Mathematics in a Classroom Community of Inquiry has examined the teaching and learning practices of a teacher who attempted to create a culture of inquiry in a secondary school mathematics classroom. The study showed how the teacher established norms and practices that emphasized mathematical sense-making and justification of ideas. Steeles (2001) study titled Using Sociocultural theory to teach mathematics: A Vygotskian Perspective, describes an elementary teachers

implementation of socio-cultural theory in practice. According to her, communication is central to learning in a socio-cultural approach to teaching and within this framework individual learning is profoundly influenced by participation in cultural practices. Students construct mathematical meaning as they share their reasoning (Battista,1999, Cobb and Yackel, 1995) and learning mathematics involves participation in certain established mathematics cultural practices. All the above studies assume an emotionally secure and positive learning environment. The math teacher thus is the prime transactor of the curriculum and her agency cannot be undermined. Teachers need to be aware of the

delicate connection between positive experiences during early mathematics learning and long-term positive disposition towards the subject. Learning without Burden (1993) was the first government document to recognise the burden of incomprehension faced by school students in all subjects including mathematics. This was a welcome step as we had just started to recognise the tip of the iceberg. Two major documents need to be mentioned here that have taken the cause of this document forward. One is The Position paper on Teaching of Mathematics (2006) and other is the National Curricular Framework for Teacher Education, NCFTE (2009). The Position Paper has emphasised the importance of heuristics, estimation, problem solving and mathematical communication during teaching of mathematics. The NCFTE (2009) envisages teacher education to be liberal, humanistic and responsive to the needs of inclusive education that can translate into culture specific and multilevel pedagogy. It also talks 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 experiences to children that may include singing, play acting, playing with numbers, drawing maps or pictures, observing, collecting specimens, project work, field visits among others. In spite of many more documents having been published since Independence these two have mentioned the importance of teacher preparedness in making math cognitively accessible to all. Banerjee(2012) has pointed out that teacher education programs have not changed much in light of the NCF(2005) and its related documents mentioned above and they remain the weakest link in our education system. While tracing the trends in mathematics education research in India she recommends an engagement with deeper issues of teaching and learning mathematics that include meaning making, understanding classroom cultures, socio-economic-political questions and affect and mathematics among others. The proposed conference is an attempt to address this lacuna and to explicate the previously mentioned connection for would-be math teachers as these are the formative years of an inspired professional. Our aim is to bring together Researchers and Practitioners in the area of mathematics education to introduce the student- teachers to new approaches in the field that are different from the traditional subject view of mathematics so that it

loses the exclusivity tag. This we hope can help create happy math teachers who like being with, around and engaging with the subject.

References:
Banerjee, R. (2012). Mathematics Education Research in India: Issues and Challenges. Mathematics Education in India: Status and Outlook. Homi Bhaba Centre for Science Education. Mumbai. Battista, M. T. (1999). Fifth graders; enumeration of cubes in 3D arrays: Conceptual progress in an inquiry-based classroom. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education , 30, 417-448. In Steele, D. F. (2001). Using Sociocultural Theory to teach Mathematics: A Vygotskian Perspective. School Science and Mathematics, Vol. 101. Cobb, P., & Yackel, E. (1995). Constructivist, emergent, and sociocultural perspectives in the context of developmental research. In D.T. Owens, M.K. Reed, & G.M. Millsaps (Eds.), Proceedings of the 17th annual meeting of the North American chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 1, pp. 3-29). Columbus OH: ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education. In Steele, D. F. (2001). Using Sociocultural Theory to teach Mathematics: A Vygotskian Perspective. School Science and Mathematics, Vol. 101. Goos, M. (2004). Learning Mathematics in a classroom Community of Inquiry. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education. Volume 35, No. 4, 258-291. Jacobs, H. R., (1970) (Ed.), Mathematics: A Human Endeavor. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. Ministry of Human Resource and Development (1993). Learning without burden: Report of the National Advisory committee appointed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. New Delhi: MHRD. National Council for Teacher Education(2009). National curriculum framework for Teacher Education. New Delhi. National Council of Educational Research and Training (2005). National curriculum framework. New Delhi: NCERT. National Council of Educational Research and Training (2006). National focus group on teaching of mathematics report. New Delhi: NCERT. Pound. L, (1999). (ed.). Supporting Mathematical development in the Early Years. Open University Press. Philadelphia. Steele, D. F., (2001). Using Sociocultural Theory to teach Mathematics: A Vygotskian Perspective. School Science and Mathematics, Vol. 101.

Lets Mathematize!- Lessons from Practice Day 1: Session 1 (Morning Session) :

9:30 to 9:45 a.m- Prayer song followed by introduction to the Conference 9:45 to 10:00a.m -- Inauguration By The Principal, Sister Marina 10:00 to 11:00 a.mKey Note Address by Prof. P. Sinclair (To speak on the need to change
focus of math teaching from one- answer to open-ended questioning and Explorative mathematics)

11:00 to 11:15a.m--Questioning and Interaction 11:15 to 11:45a.m Tea

Session 2
11:45 to 12:15 a.m --Prof Bharti Baweja (To speak on the significance of Authentic tasks and
Situated Practices as the corner stones of creative and flexible thinking in mathematics)

12:15to 12:30a.m-- Questioning and Interaction 12:30to 1:00 p.m Prof. Jayshree Subramanium (To speak on content issues in mathematics
Education)

1:00 to 1:15 p.m -- Questioning and Interaction 1:15 to 2:15 p.m Lunch

Session 3
2:15 to 3:15 Trials and Triumphs of being a Mathematics teacher- Panel Discussion
Participants include school and college teachers who have been practicing in the field for many years.

3:15to 3:30p.m-- Questioning and Interaction

Session 4
3:30to 4:30p.m Introduction to Poster/ Paper Presentation and Interaction
Poster/ Paper invites to be sent to various colleges involved in teacher education, DIETs and Schools with the aim to share effective and innovative pedagogic ideas on a common platform. Entries to include poster or Papers, students work(Field data), videos etc. Participants interact with audience in small groups at the delegated venues.

Day Ends

Day 2: Session 1
9:30 to 9:45 a.m Prayer Song followed by Introduction to day 2 9:45 to 10:15-- Prof. Anita Rampal (To speak on her work with working class children on mathematics in Hoshangabad. / constructing the ncert text/ math as a co constructing activity). 10:15 to 10:45 a.m-- Questioning and Interaction 10:45 to 11:15 a.m Arvind Gupta (To speak on Realistic mathematics.) 11:15 to 11:30 a.m-- Questioning and Interaction 11:30 to 11:45 a.m Tea

Session 2
11:45 to 12:45 p.m Dr.UshaMenon and Shahji (JodoGyan, Delhi)
To speak on Jodogyans sustained endeavour to work with the Government run schools still teaching the traditional way. How they accessed and convinced them to teach the construtivist way.

12:45 to 1:15 p.mDr.GeetOberoi (Orkids , Delhi) (To speak on Living with Dyscalculia- an autobiography) 1:15 to 1:30 p.m Interaction 1:30 to 2:30 p.m Lunch

Session 3
2:30 to 3:30 p.m Panel Discussion of Math teacher educators (B.Ed and B.El.Ed) Haneet Gandhi, Sona Andrew, Jonaki Ghosh, Ashu Thareja, Jyoti Sharma Chaired by 3:30 to 3:45p.m-- Interaction 3:45 to 4:15 p.mTheatre as a Pedagogic tool to teach mathematics
Theatre Presentation by B.El.Ed students.

4:15 to 4:30 p.mVote of Thanks/ Valedictory session.