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POSITION PAPER, NATIONAL FOCUS GROUP, ON, , TEACHING OF, MATHEMATICS, , 1. 2
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, The main goal of mathematics education in schools is the mathematisation of the child’s thinking., Clarity of thought and pursuing assumptions to logical conclusions is central to the mathematical, enterprise. There are many ways of thinking, and the kind of thinking one learns in mathematics, is an ability to handle abstractions, and an approach to problem solving., Universalisation of schooling has important implications for mathematics curriculum., Mathematics being a compulsory subject of study, access to quality mathematics education is, every child’s right. We want mathematics education that is affordable to every child, and at the, same time, enjoyable. With many children exiting the system after Class VIII, mathematics education, at the elementary stage should help children prepare for the challenges they face further in life., In our vision, school mathematics takes place in a situation where: (1) Children learn to enjoy, mathematics, (2) Children learn important mathematics, (3) Mathematics is a part of children’s life, experience which they talk about, (4) Children pose and solve meaningful problems, (5) Children, use abstractions to perceive relationships and structure, (6) Children understand the basic structure, of mathematics and (7) Teachers expect to engage every child in class., On the other hand, mathematics education in our schools is beset with problems. We identify, the following core areas of concern: (a) A sense of fear and failure regarding mathematics among, a majority of children, (b) A curriculum that disappoints both a talented minority as well as the, non-participating majority at the same time, (c) Crude methods of assessment that encourage, perception of mathematics as mechanical computation, and (d) Lack of teacher preparation and, support in the teaching of mathematics. Systemic problems further aggravate the situation, in the, sense that structures of social discrimination get reflected in mathematics education as well. Especially, worth mentioning in this regard is the gender dimension, leading to a stereotype that boys are, better at mathematics than girls., The analysis of these problems lead us to recommend: (a) Shifting the focus of mathematics, education from achieving ‘narrow’ goals to ‘higher’ goals, (b) Engaging every student with a sense, of success, while at the same time offering conceptual challenges to the emerging mathematician,, (c) Changing modes of assessment to examine students’ mathematization abilities rather than, procedural knowledge, and (d) Enriching teachers with a variety of mathematical resources., The shift in focus we propose is from mathematical content to mathematical learning, environments, where a whole range of processes take precedence: formal problem solving, use, of heuristics, estimation and approximation, optimisation, use of patterns, visualisation,, representation, reasoning and proof, making connections, mathematical communication. Giving
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vi, importance to these processes also helps in removing fear of mathematics from children’s minds., A crucial implication of such a shift lies in offering a multiplicity of approaches, procedures,, solutions. We see this as crucial for liberating school mathematics from the tyranny of the one, right answer, found by applying the one algorithm taught. Such learning environments invite, participation, engage children, and offer a sense of success., In terms of assessment, we recommend that Board examinations be restructured, so that the, minimum eligibility for a State certificate be numeracy, reducing the instance of failure in mathematics., On the other hand, at the higher end, we recommend that examinations be more challenging,, evaluating conceptual understanding and competence., We note that a great deal needs to be done towards preparing teachers for mathematics, education. A large treasury of resource material, which teachers can access freely as well as contribute, to, is badly needed. Networking of school teachers among themselves as well as with university, teachers will help., When it comes to curricular choices, we recommend moving away from the current structure, of tall and spindly education (where one concept builds on another, culminating in university, mathematics), to a broader and well-rounded structure, with many topics “closer to the ground”., If accommodating processes like geometric visualisation can only be done by reducing content,, we suggest that content be reduced rather than compromise on the former. Moreover, we, suggest a principle of postponement: in general, if a theme can be offered with better motivation, and applications at a later stage, wait for introducing it at that stage, rather than go for technical, preparation without due motivation., Our vision of excellent mathematical education is based on the twin premises that all students, can learn mathematics and that all students need to learn mathematics. It is therefore, imperative that we offer mathematics education of the very highest quality to all children.
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CONTENTS, Executive Summary ...v, Members of National Focus Group on Teaching of Mathematics ...vii, 1. GOALS OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION ...1, 2. A VISION STATEMENT ...2, 3. A BRIEF HISTORY ...3, 4. PROBLEMS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING OF MATHEMATICS ...4, 4.1. Fear and Failure ...5, 4.2. Disappointing Curriculum ...5, 4.3. Crude Assessment ...6, 4.4. Inadequate Teacher Preparation ...6, 4.5. Other Systemic Problems ...7, 5. RECOMMENDATIONS ...8, 5.1. Towards the Higher Goals ...8, 5.2. Mathematics for All ...12, 5.3. Teacher Support ...13, 6. CURRICULAR CHOICES ...14, 6.1. Primary Stage ...14, 6.2. Upper Primary Stage ...16, 6.3. Secondary Stage ...17, 6.4. Higher Secondary Stage ...18, 6.5. Mathematics and Mathematicians ...19, 7. CONCLUSION ...19, References ...20
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1, 1. GOALS, , OF, , MATHEMATICS EDUCATION, , What are the main goals of mathematics education, in schools? Simply stated, there is one main goal—, the mathematisation of the child’s thought, processes. In the words of David Wheeler, it is, “more useful to know how to mathematise than to, know a lot of mathematics” 1., According to George Polya, we can think of two, kinds of aims for school education: a good and narrow, aim, that of turning out employable adults who, (eventually) contribute to social and economic, development; and a higher aim, that of developing, the inner resources of the growing child2. With regard, to school mathematics, the former aim specifically, relates to numeracy. Primary schools teach numbers, and operations on them, measurement of quantities,, fractions, percentages and ratios: all these are important, for numeracy., What about the higher aim? In developing a child’s, inner resources, the role that mathematics plays is mostly, about thinking. Clarity of thought and pursuing, assumptions to logical conclusions is central to the, mathematical enterprise. There are many ways of, thinking, and the kind of thinking one learns in, mathematics is an ability to handle abstractions., Even more importantly, what mathematics offers, is a way of doing things: to be able to solve, mathematical problems, and more generally, to have, the right attitude for problem solving and to be able, to attack all kinds of problems in a systematic manner., This calls for a curriculum that is ambitious,, coherent and teaches important mathematics. It, should be ambitious in the sense that it seeks to achieve, the higher aim mentioned above rather than (only) the, narrower aim. It should be coherent in the sense that, the variety of methods and skills available piecemeal, (in arithmetic, algebra, geometry) cohere into an, , ability to address problems that come from science, and social studies in high school. It should be, important in the sense that students feel the need, to solve such problems, that teachers and students, find it worth their time and energy addressing these, problems, and that mathematicians consider it an, activity that is mathematically worthwhile. Note, that such importance is not a given thing, and, curriculum can help shape it. An important, consequence of such requirements is that school, mathematics must be activity-oriented., In the Indian context, there is a centrality of concern, which has an impact on all areas of school education,, namely that of universalisation of schooling. This, has two important implications for the discussion on, curriculum, especially mathematics. Firstly, schooling is, a legal right, and mathematics being a compulsory, subject of study, access to quality mathematics, education is every child’s right. Keeping in mind the, Indian reality, where few children have access to, expensive material, we want mathematics education, that is affordable to every child, and at the same time,, enjoyable. This implies that the mathematics taught is, situated in the child’s lived reality, and that for the system,, it is not the subject that matters more than the child,, but the other way about., Secondly, in a country where nearly half the children, drop out of school during the elementary stage,, mathematics curricula cannot be grounded only on, preparation for higher secondary and university, education. Even if we achieve our targeted, universalisation goals, during the next decade, we will, still have a substantial proportion of children exiting, the system after Class VIII. It is then fair to ask what, eight years of school mathematics offers for such, children in terms of the challenges they will face, afterwards.
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2, Much has been written about life skills and, linkage of school education to livelihood. It is, certainly true that most of the skills taught at the, primary stage are useful in everyday life. However,, a reorientation of the curriculum towards, addressing the ‘higher aims’ mentioned above will, make better use of the time children spend in, schools in terms of the problem solving and, analytical skills it builds in children, and prepare, them better to encounter a wide variety of problems, in life., Our reflections on the place of mathematics, teaching in the curricular framework are positioned, on these twin concerns: what mathematics education, can do to engage the mind of every student, and, how it can strengthen the student’s resources. We, describe our vision of mathematics in school,, attempt to delineate the core areas of concern and, offer recommendations that address the concerns,, based on these twin perspectives., Many of our considerations in what follows, have been shaped by discussions of Mathematics, Curriculum in NCTM, USA 3 , the New Jersey, Mathematics Coalition4, the Mathematics academic, content standards of the California State Board of, Education 5 , the Singapore Mathematics, Curriculum 6 , the Mathematics Learning Area, statements of Australia and New Zealand7, and the, national curricula of France, Hungary 8 and the, United Kingdom9. Ferrini-Mundi et al (eds.) offer, an interesting discussion comparing national, curriculum and teaching practice in mathematics in, France with that of Brazil, Egypt, Japan, Kenya,, Sweden and the USA10., , 2. A VISION STATEMENT, In our vision, school mathematics takes place in a, situation where:, , •, , Children learn to enjoy mathematics: this, is an important goal, based on the premise, that mathematics can be both used and, enjoyed life-long, and hence that school is, best placed to create such a taste for, mathematics. On the other hand, creating, (or not removing) a fear of mathematics can, deprive children of an important faculty, for life., , •, , Children learn important mathematics: Equating, mathematics with formulas and mechanical, procedures does great harm. Understanding, when and how a mathematical technique is to, be used is always more important than, recalling the technique from memory (which, may easily be done using a book), and the, school needs to create such understanding., , •, , Children see mathematics as something to talk, about, to communicate, to discuss among, themselves, to work together on. Making, mathematics a part of children’s life experience is, the best mathematics education possible., , •, , Children pose and solve meaningful problems: In, school, mathematics is the domain which, formally addresses problem solving as a skill., Considering that this is an ability of use in all, of one’s life, techniques and approaches learnt, in school have great value. Mathematics also, provides an opportunity to make up interesting, problems, and create new dialogues thereby., , •, , Children use abstractions to perceive, relationships, to see structure, to reason about, things, to argue the truth or falsity of, statements. Logical thinking is a great gift, mathematics can offer us, and inculcating such, habits of thought and communication in
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3, children is a principal goal of teaching, mathematics., , •, , Children understand the basic structure of, mathematics: Arithmetic, algebra, geometry and, trigonometry, the basic content areas of school, mathematics, all offer a methodology for, abstraction, structuration and generalization., Appreciating the scope and power of, mathematics refines our instincts in a unique, manner., , •, , Teachers expect to engage every child in class:, , Settling for anything less can only act towards, systematic exclusion, in the long run. Adequately, challenging the talented even while ensuring, the participation of all children is a challenge,, and offering teachers means and resources to, do this is essential for the health of the system., Such a vision is based on a diagnosis of what we, consider to be the central problems afflicting school, mathematics education in the country today, as also on, what we perceive can be done, and ought to be done., Before we present the vision, a quick look at the, history of mathematics curricular framework is in order., , 3. A, , BRIEF HISTORY, , Etymologically, the term ‘curriculum’ which has been, derived from the Latin root means ‘race course’. The, word race is suggestive of time and course - the path., Obviously, curriculum was seen as the prescribed course, of study to be covered in a prescribed time frame., But, evolution of curriculum as a field of study began, in 1890’s only, albeit of the fact that thinkers of, education were interested in exploring the field for, centuries. Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841), a, German thinker, is generally associated with the, evolution of curriculum- field. Herbart had, , emphasized the importance of ‘selection’ and, ‘organization’ of content in his theories of teaching/, learning. The first book devoted to the theme of, curriculum entitled, The Curriculum was published, in 1918 by Franklin Bobbitt followed by another, book How to make Curriculum in 1924. In 1926,, the National society for the study of education in, America published the year book devoted to the, theme of curriculum-The Foundation and Technique, of Curriculum Construction. This way the, curriculum development movement, from its, beginning in 1890s, started becoming a vigorous, educational movement across the world., School systems are a relatively new phenomenon, in historical terms, having developed only during, the past two hundred years or so. Before then, there, existed schools in parts of the West, as an appendage, to religious organisations. The purpose of these, schools was to produce an educated cleric. Interest, in mathematics was rudimentary-‘the different kinds, of numbers and the various shapes and sufficient, astronomy to help to determine the dates of, religious rituals’. However, in India the practice, of education was a well established, phenomenon. Arithmetic and astronomy were, core components of the course of study., Astronomy was considered essential for determining, auspicious times for performing religious rituals and, sacrifices. Geometry was taught because it was, required for the construction of sacrificial altars, and ‘havan kunds’ of various shapes and sizes. With, the arrival of the British, the system of education, underwent a major change. Western system of, education was introduced to educate Indians on, western lines for the smooth functioning of the, Empire., However, much of the curriculum development, in mathematics has taken place during the past
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4, thirty/forty years. This is because of the new, technological revolution which has an impact on, society as great as the industrial revolution. Modern, technology is therefore causing, and will increasingly, cause educational aims to be rethought, making, curriculum development a dynamic process. To a, scanning eye, mathematics itself is being directly, affected by the modern technology as new branches, are developed in response to new technological, needs, leaving some ‘time-hallowed’ techniques, redundant. In addition, teaching of mathematics also, gets affected in order to keep pace with new, developments in technology. Moreover, there exists, a strong similarity of mathematics syllabi all over, the world, with the result that any change which comes, from the curriculum developers elsewhere is often, copied or tried by others. India, for example, got, swayed with the wave of new mathematics. Later,, following the trends in other countries, new mathematics, also receded here. To conclude, the various trends in, curriculum development we observe no longer remain, a static process, but a dynamic one. Its focus from, ‘selection’ and ‘organisation’ of the informational, material shifts to the development of a curriculum that, ‘manifests life in its reality’., In 1937, when Gandhiji propounded the idea of, basic education, the Zakir Husain committee was, appointed to elaborate on this idea. It recommended:, ‘Knowledge of mathematics is an essential part of any, curriculum. Every child is expected to work out the, ordinary calculations required in the course of his craft, work or his personal and community concerns and, activities.’ The Secondary Education Commission, appointed in 1952 also emphasised the need for, mathematics as a compulsory subject in the schools., In line with the recommendations of the National, Policy on Education, 1968, when the NCERT, , published its “Curriculum for the Ten Year, School”, it remarked that the ‘advent of automation, and cybernatics in this century marks the beginning, of the new scientific industrial revolution and makes, it all the more imperative to devote special attention, to the study of mathematics’. It stressed on an, ‘investigatory approach’ in the teaching of, mathematics., The National Policy on Education 1986 went further:, Mathematics should be visualized as the vehicle to, train a child to think, reason, analyze and to articulate, logically. Apart from being a specific subject, it, should be treated as a concomitant to any subject, involving analysis and reasoning., The National Curriculum Framework for School, Education (NCFSE) 2000 document echoes such, sentiments as well. Yet, despite this history of, exhortations, mathematics education has remained, pretty much the same, focussed on narrow aims., , 4. PROBLEMS IN TEACHING, OF MATHEMATICS, , AND, , LEARNING, , Any analysis of mathematics education in our, schools will identify a range of issues as problematic., We structure our understanding of these issues, around the following four problems which we deem, to be the core areas of concern:, 1. A sense of fear and failure regarding, mathematics among a majority of children,, 2. A curriculum that disappoints both a talented, minority as well as the non-participating, majority at the same time,, 3. Crude methods of assessment that encourage, perception of mathematics as mechanical, computation, and, 4. Lack of teacher preparation and support in, the teaching of mathematics.
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5, Each of these can and need to be expanded on, since, they concern the curricular framework in essential ways., 4.1 Fear and Failure, If any subject area of study evokes wide emotional, comment, it is mathematics. While no one educated in, Tamil would profess (or at the least, not without a, sense of shame) ignorance of any Tirukkural, it is, quite the social norm for anyone to proudly declare, that (s)he never could learn mathematics. While, these may be adult attitudes, among children (who, are compelled to pass mathematics examinations), there is often fear and anxiety. Mathematics anxiety, and ‘math phobia’ are terms that are used in popular, literature. 11, In the Indian context, there is a special dimension, to such anxiety. With the universalisation of elementary, education made a national priority, and elementary, education a legal right, at this historic juncture, a serious, attempt must be made to look into every aspect that, alienates children in school and contributes towards, their non-participation, eventually leading to their, dropping out of the system. If any subject taught in, school plays a significant role in alienating children and, causing them to stop attending school, perhaps, mathematics, which inspires so much dread, must take, a big part of the blame., Such fear is closely linked to a sense of failure. By, Class III or IV, many children start seeing themselves, as unable to cope with the demands made by, mathematics. In high school, among children who fail, only in one or two subjects in year-end examinations, and hence are detained, the maximum numbers fail in, mathematics. This statistic pursues us right through to, Class X, which is when the Indian state issues a certificate, of education to a student. The largest numbers of, Board Exam failures also happen in mathematics., , There are many perceptive studies and analyses on, what causes fear of mathematics in schools. Central, among them is the cumulative nature of mathematics., If you struggle with decimals, then you will struggle, with percentages; if you struggle with percentages, then, you will struggle with algebra and other mathematics, subjects as well. The other principal reason is said to, be the predominance of symbolic language. When, symbols are manipulated without understanding, after, a point, boredom and bewilderment dominate for, many children, and dissociation develops., Failure in mathematics could be read through social, indicators as well. Structural problems in Indian, education, reflecting structures of social discrimination,, by way of class, caste and gender, contribute further, to failure (and perceived failure) in mathematics, education as well. Prevalent social attitudes which see, girls as incapable of mathematics, or which, for, centuries, have associated formal computational abilities, with the upper castes, deepen such failure by way of, creating self-fulfilling expectations., A special mention must be made of problems, created by the language used in textbooks, especially at, the elementary level. For a vast majority of Indian, children, the language of mathematics learnt in school, is far removed from their everyday speech, and, especially forbidding. This becomes a major force of, alienation in its own right., 4.2 Disappointing Curriculum, Any mathematics curriculum that emphasises procedure, and knowledge of formulas over understanding is, bound to enhance anxiety. The prevalent practice of, school mathematics goes further: a silent majority give, up early on, remaining content to fail in mathematics,, or at best, to see it through, maintaining a minimal, level of achievement. For these children, what the
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6, curriculum offers is a store of mathematical facts,, borrowed temporarily while preparing for tests., On the other hand, it is widely acknowledged that, more than in any other content discipline, mathematics, is the subject that also sees great motivation and talent, even at an early age in a small number of children12., These are children who take to quantisation and algebra, easily and carry on with great facility., What the curriculum offers for such children is, also intense disappointment. By not offering conceptual, depth, by not challenging them, the curriculum settles, for minimal use of their motivation. Learning, procedures may be easy for them, but their, understanding and capacity for reasoning remain underexercised., 4.3 Crude Assessment, We talked of fear and failure. While what happens in, class may alienate, it never evokes panic, as does the, examination. Most of the problems cited above relate, to the tyranny of procedure and memorization of, formulas in school mathematics, and the central reason, for the ascendancy of procedure is the nature of, assessment and evaluation. Tests are designed (only), for assessing a student’s knowledge of procedure and, memory of formulas and facts, and given the criticality, of examination performance in school life, concept, learning is replaced by procedural memory. Those, children who cannot do such replacement successfully, experience panic, and suffer failure., While mathematics is the major ground for formal, problem solving in school, it is also the only arena where, children see little room for play in answering questions., Every question in mathematics is seen to have one, unique answer, and either you know it or you don’t. In, Language, Social Studies, or even in Science, you may, try and demonstrate partial knowledge, but (as the, , students see it), there is no scope for doing so in, mathematics. Obviously, such a perception is easily, coupled to anxiety., Amazingly, while there has been a great deal of, research in mathematics education and some of it has, led to changes in pedagogy and curriculum, the area, that has seen little change in our schools over a hundred, years or more is evaluation procedures in mathematics., It is not accidental that even a quarterly examination in, Class VII is not very different in style from a Board, examination in Class X, and the same pattern dominates, even the end-of chapter exercises given in textbooks., It is always application of some piece of information, given in the text to solve a specific problem that tests, use of formalism. Such antiquated and crude methods, of assessment have to be thoroughly overhauled if, any basic change is to be brought about., 4.4 Inadequate Teacher Preparation, More so than any other content discipline, mathematics, education relies very heavily on the preparation that, the teacher has, in her own understanding of, mathematics, of the nature of mathematics, and in her, bag of pedagogic techniques. Textbook-centred, pedagogy dulls the teacher’s own mathematics activity., At two ends of the spectrum, mathematics teaching, poses special problems. At the primary level, most, teachers assume that they know all the mathematics, needed, and in the absence of any specific pedagogic, training, simply try and uncritically reproduce the, techniques they experienced in their school days. Often, this ends up perpetuating problems across time and, space., At the secondary and higher secondary level, some, teachers face a different situation. The syllabi have, considerably changed since their school days, and in, the absence of systematic and continuing education
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7, programmes for teachers, their fundamentals in many, concept areas are not strong. This encourages reliance, on ‘notes’ available in the market, offering little breadth, or depth for the students., While inadequate teacher preparation and support, acts negatively on all of school mathematics, at the, primary stage, its main consequence is this: mathematics, pedagogy rarely resonates with the findings of, children’s psychology. At the upper primary stage,, when the language of abstractions is formalised in, algebra, inadequate teacher preparation reflects as, inability to link for mal mathematics with, experiential learning. Later on, it reflects as, incapacity to offer connections within mathematics, or across subject areas to applications in the sciences,, thus depriving students of important motivation and, appreciation., 4.5 Other Systemic Problems, We wish to briefly mention a few other systemic sources, of problems as well. One major problem is that of, compartmentalisation: there is very little systematic, communication between primary school and high, school teachers of mathematics, and none at all between, high school and college teachers of mathematics. Most, school teachers have never even seen, let alone interacted, with or consulted, research mathematicians. Those, involved in teacher education are again typically outside, the realm of college or research mathematics., Another important problem is that of curricular, acceleration: a generation ago, calculus was first, encountered by a student in college. Another generation, earlier, analytical geometry was considered college, mathematics. But these are all part of school curriculum, now. Such acceleration has naturally meant pruning of, some topics: there is far less solid geometry or speherical, geometry now. One reason for the narrowing is, , that calculus and differential equations are critically, important in undergraduate sciences, technology, and engineering, and hence it is felt that early, introduction of these topics helps students, proceeding further on these lines. Whatever the, logic, the shape of mathematics education has, become taller and more spindly, rather than, broad and rounded., While we have mentioned gender as a systemic, issue, it is worth understanding the problem in, some detail. Mathematics tends to be regarded as a, ‘masculine domain’. This perception is aided by the, complete lack of references in textbooks to women, mathematicians, the absence of social concerns in, the designing of curricula which would enable, children questioning received gender ideologies and, the absence of reference to women’s lives in, problems. A study of mathematics textbooks found, that in the problem sums, not a single reference, was made to women’s clothing, although several, problems referred to the buying of cloth, etc.13, Classroom research also indicates a fairly, systematic devaluation of girls as incapable of, ‘mastering’ mathematics, even when they perform, reasonably well at verbal as well as cognitive tasks, in mathematics. It has been seen that teachers tend, to address boys more than girls, which feeds into, the construction of the normative mathematics, learner as male. Also, when instructional decisions, are in teachers’ hands, their gendered constructions, colour the mathematical learning strategies of girls, and boys, with the latter using more invented, strategies for problem-solving, which reflects greater, conceptual understanding.14 Studies have shown that, teachers tend to attribute boys’ mathematical, ‘success’ more to ability, and girls’ success more to, effort. 15 Classroom discourses also give some, indication of how the ‘masculinising’ of
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8, mathematics occurs, and the profound influence of, gender ideologies in patterning notions of academic, competence in school. 16 With performance in, mathematics signifying school ‘success’, girls are, clearly at the losing end., , 5. RECOMMENDATIONS, While the litany of problems and challenges, magnifies the distance we need to travel to arrive at, the vision articulated above, it also offers hope by, way of pointing us where we need to go and what steps, we may/must take., We summarise what we believe to be the central, directions for action towards our stated vision. We, group them again into four central themes:, 1. Shifting the focus of mathematics education, from achieving ‘narrow’ goals to ‘higher’, goals,, 2. Engaging every student with a sense of, success, while at the same time offering, conceptual challenges to the emerging, mathematician,, 3. Changing modes of assessment to examine, students’ mathematisation abilities rather, than procedural knowledge,, 4. Enriching teachers with a variety of, mathematical resources., There is some need for elaboration. How can, the advocated shift to ‘higher’ goals remove fear of, mathematics in children? Is it indeed possible to, simultaneously address the silent majority and the, motivated minority? How indeed can we assess, processes rather than knowledge? We briefly, address these concerns below., 5.1 Towards the Higher Goals, The shift that we advocate, from ‘narrow’ goals to, , ‘higher’ goals, is best summarized as a shift in focus, from mathematical content to mathematical learning, environments., The content areas of mathematics addressed in, our schools do offer a solid foundation. While there, can be disputes over what gets taught at which grade,, and over the level of detail included in a specific, theme, there is broad agreement that the content, areas (arithmetic, algebra, geometry, mensuration,, trigonometry, data analysis) cover essential ground., What can be levelled as major criticism against, our extant curriculum and pedagogy is its failure, with regard to mathematical processes. We mean a, whole range of processes here: formal problem, solving, use of heuristics, estimation and, approximation, optimization, use of patterns,, visualisation, representation, reasoning and proof,, making connections, mathematical communication., Giving importance to these processes constitutes, the difference between doing mathematics and, swallowing mathematics, between mathematisation, of thinking and memorising formulas, between, trivial mathematics and important mathematics,, between working towards the narrow aims and, addressing the higher aims., In school mathematics, certainly emphasis does, need to be attached to factual knowledge,, procedural fluency and conceptual understanding., New knowledge is to be constructed from, experience and prior knowledge using conceptual, elements. However, invariably, emphasis on, procedure gains ascendancy at the cost of conceptual, understanding as well as construction of knowledge, based on experience. This can be seen as a central, cause for the fear of mathematics in children., On the other hand, the emphasis on, exploratory problem solving, activities and the
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9, processes referred to above constitute learning, environments that invite participation, engage, children, and offer a sense of success. Transforming, our classrooms in this manner, and designing, mathematics curricula that enable such a, transformation is to be accorded the highest, priority., 5.1.1 Processes, It is worth explaining the kind of processes we have, referred to and their place in the curricular, framework. Admittedly, such processes cut across, subject areas, but we wish to insist that they are, central to mathematics. This is to be seen in contrast, with mathematics being equated to exact but, abstruse knowledge with an all-or-nothing character., Formal problem solving, at least in schools,, exists only in the realm of mathematics. But for, physics lessons in the secondary stage and after,, there are no other situations outside of mathematics, where children address themselves to problem, solving. Given this, and the fact that this is an, important ‘life skill’ that a school can teach,, mathematics education needs to be far more, conscious of what tactics it can offer. As it stands,, problem solving only amounts to doing exercises, that illustrate specific definitions in the text. Worse,, textbook problems reduce solutions to knowledge, of specific tricks, of no validity outside the lesson, where they are located., On the other hand, many general tactics can, indeed be taught, progressively during the stages, of school. Techniques like abstraction,, quantification, analogy, case analysis, reduction to, simpler situations, even guess-and-verify, are useful, in many problem contexts. Moreover, when, children learn a variety of approaches (over time),, , their toolkit gets richer and they also learn which, approach is best when., This brings us to the use of heuristics, or rules, of thumb. Unfortunately, mathematics is, considered to be ‘exact’ where one uses ‘the, appropriate formula’. To find a property of some, triangle, it is often useful to first investigate the, special case when the triangle is right angled, and, then look at the general case afterwards. Such, heuristics do not always work, but when they do,, they give answers to many other problems as well., Examples of heuristics abound when we apply, mathematics in the sciences. Most scientists,, engineers and mathematicians use a big bag of, heuristics – a fact carefully hidden by our school, textbooks., Scientists regard estimation of quantities and, approximating solutions, when exact ones are not, available, to be absolutely essential skills. The, physicist Fermi was famous for posing estimation, problems based on everyday life and showing how, they helped in nuclear physics. Indeed, when a, farmer estimates the yield of a particular crop,, considerable skills in estimation and approximation, are used. School mathematics can play a significant, role in developing and honing such useful skills,, and it is a pity that this is almost entirely ignored., Optimisation is never even recognized as a skill, in schools. Yet, when we wish to decide on a set of, goods to purchase, spending less than a fixed, amount, we optimise Rs. 100 can buy us A and B, or C, D and E in different quantities, and we decide., Two different routes can take us to the same, destination and each has different advantages or, disadvantages. Exact solutions to most optimisation, problems are hard, but intelligent choice based, on best use of available information is a
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10, mathematical skill that can be taught. Often, the, numerical or geometrical facility needed is available, at the upper primary stage. Developing a series of, such situations and abilities can make school, mathematics enjoyable as well as directly useful., Visualisation and representation are again skills, unaddressed outside mathematics curriculum, and, hence mathematics needs to develop these far more, consciously than is done now. Modelling situations, using quantities, shapes and forms is the best use of, mathematics. Such representations aid visualization, and reasoning, clarify essentials, help us discard, irrelevant, information., Rather, sadly,, representations are taught as ends in themselves. For, example, equations are taught, but the use of an, equation to represent the relationship between force, and acceleration is not examined. What we need, are illustrations that show a multiplicity of, representations so that the relative advantages can, be understood. For example, a fraction can be, written in the form p/q but can also be visualised, as a point on the number line; both representations, are useful, and appropriate in different contexts., Learning this about fractions is far more useful than, arithmetic of fractions., This also brings us to the need for making, connections, within mathematics, and between, mathematics and other subjects of study. Children, learn to draw graphs of functional relationships, between data, but fail to think of such a graph when, encountering equations in physics or chemistry., That algebra offers a language for succinct, substitutable statements in science needs underlining, and can serve as motivation for many children., Eugene Wigner once spoke of the unreasonable, effectiveness of mathematics in the sciences. Our, children need to appreciate the fact that mathematics, is an effective instrument in science., , The importance of systematic reasoning in, mathematics cannot be overemphasized, and is, intimately tied to notions of aesthetics and elegance, dear to mathematicians. Proof is important, but, equating proof with deduction, as done in schools,, does violence to the notion. Sometimes, a picture, suffices as a proof, a construction proves a claim, rigorously. The social notion of proof as a process, that convinces a sceptical adversary is important for, the practice of mathematics. Therefore, school, mathematics should encourage proof as a systematic, way of argumentation. The aim should be to, develop arguments, evaluate arguments, make and, investigate conjectures, and understand that there, are various methods of reasoning., Another important element of process is, mathematical communication. Precise and, unambiguous use of language and rigour in, formulation are important characteristics of, mathematical treatment, and these constitute values, to be imparted by way of mathematics education., The use of jargon in mathematics is deliberate,, conscious and stylized. Mathematicians discuss what, is appropriate notation since good notation is held, to aid thought. As children grow older, they should, be taught to appreciate the significance of such, conventions and their use. For instance, this means, that setting up of equations should get as much, coverage as solving them., In discussing many of these skills and processes,, we have repeatedly referred to offering a, multiplicity of approaches, procedures, solutions., We see this as crucial for liberating school, mathematics from the tyranny of the one right, answer, found by applying the one algorithm, taught. When many ways are available, one can, compare them, decide which is appropriate when,
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11, and in the process gain insight. And such a, multiplicity is available for most mathematical, contexts, all through school, starting from the, primary stage. For instance, when we wish to divide, 102 by 8, we could do long division, or try 10 first,, then 15, and decide that the answer lies in between, and work at narrowing the gap., It is important to acknowledge that, mathematical competence is situated and shaped by, the social situations and the activities in which, learning occurs. Hence, school mathematics has to, be in close relation to the social worlds of children, where they are engaged in mathematical activities, as a part of daily life. Open-ended problems,, involving multiple approaches and not solely based, on arriving at a final, unitary, correct answer are, important so that an external source of validation, (the teacher, textbooks, guidebooks) is not habitually, sought for mathematical claims. The unitary, approach acts to disadvantage all learners, but often, acts to disadvantage girls in particular., 5.1.2 Mathematics that people use, An emphasis on the processes discussed above also, enables children to appreciate the relevance of, mathematics to people’s lives. In Indian villages, it, is commonly seen that people who are not formally, educated use many modes of mental mathematics., What may be called folk algorithms exist for not, only mentally performing number operations, but, also for measurement, estimation, understanding, of shapes and aesthetics. Appreciating the richness, of these methods can enrich the child’s perception, of mathematics. Many children are immersed in, situations where they see and learn the use of these, methods, and relating such knowledge to what is, formally learnt as mathematics can be inspiring and, additionally motivating., , For instance, in Southern India, kolams, (complex figures drawn on the floor using a white, powder, similar to rangoli in the north, but, ordinarily without colour) are seen in front of, houses. A new kolam is created each day and a great, variety of kolams are used. Typically women draw, kolams, and many even participate in competitions., The grammar of these kolams, the classes of closed, curves they use, the symmetries that they exploit these are matters that mathematics education in, schools can address, to the great benefit of students., Similarly, art, architecture and music offer intricate, examples that help children appreciate the cultural, grounding of mathematics., 5.1.3 Use of technology, Technology can greatly aid the process of, mathematical exploration, and clever use of such, aids can help engage students. Calculators are, typically seen as aiding arithmetical operations;, while this is true, calculators are of much greater, pedagogic value. Indeed, if one asks whether, calculators should be permitted in examinations,, the answer is that it is quite unnecessary for, examiners to raise questions that necessitate the use, of calculators. On the contrary, in a nonthreatening atmosphere, children can use calculators, to study iteration of many algebraic functions. For, instance, starting with an arbitrary large number, and repeatedly finding the square root to see how, soon the sequence converges to 1, is illuminating., Even phenomena like chaos can be easily, comprehended with such iterators., If ordinary calculators can offer such, possibilities, the potential of graphing calculators, and computers for mathematical exploration is far, higher. However, these are expensive, and in a
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12, country where the vast majority of children cannot, afford more than one notebook, such use is, luxurious. It is here that governmental action, to, provide appropriate alternative low-cost, technology, may be appropriate. Research in this, direction will be greatly beneficial to school, education., It must be understood that there is a spectrum, of technology use in mathematics education, and, calculators or computers are at one end of the, spectrum. While notebooks and blackboards are, the other end, use of graph paper, geo boards,, abacus, geometry boxes etc. is crucial. Innovations, in the design and use of such material must be, encouraged so that their use makes school, mathematics enjoyable and meaningful., 5.2 Mathematics for All, A systemic goal that needs to be underlined and, internalised in the entire system is universal, inclusion. This means acknowledging that forms, of social discrimination work in the context of, mathematics education as well and addressing means, for redress. For instance, gendered attitudes which, consider mathematics to be unimportant for girls,, have to be systematically challenged in school. In, India, even caste based discrimination manifests in, such terms, and the system cannot afford to treat, such attitudes by default., Inclusion is a fundamental principle. Children, with special needs, especially children with physical, and mental disabilities, have as much right as every, other child to learn mathematics, and their needs, (in terms of pedagogy, learning material etc) have, to be addressed seriously. The conceptual world of, mathematics can bring great joy to these children,, and it is our responsibility not to deprive them of, such education., , One important implication in taking, Mathematics for all seriously is that even the, language used in our textbooks must be sensitive to, language uses of all children. This is critical for, primary education, and this may be achievable only, by a multiplicity of textbooks., While the emphasised shift towards learning, environments is essential for engaging the currently, nonparticipating majority in our classrooms, it does, not in any way mean dilution of standards. We are, not advising here that the mathematics class, rather, than boring the majority, ends up boring the already, motivated minority. On the other hand, a case can, be made that such open problem situations offer, greater gradations in challenges, and hence offer, more for these few children as well., It is widely acknowledged that mathematical, talent can be detected early, in a way that is not, observable in more complex fields such as literature, and history. That is, it is possible to present, challenging tasks to highly talented youngsters. The, history of the task may be ignored; the necessary, machinery is minimal; and the manner in which, such youngsters express their insights does not, require elaboration in order to generate, mathematical inquiry., All this is to say that challenging all children, according to their mathematical taste is indeed, possible. But this calls for systemic mechanisms,, especially in textbooks. In India, few children have, access to any mathematical material outside their, mathematics textbooks, and hence structuring, textbooks to offer such a variety of content is, important., In addition, we also need to consider mechanisms, for identification and nurturing of such talent,, especially in rural areas, by means of support outside, main school hours. Every district needs at least a few
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13, centres accessible to children in the district where such, mathematical activity is undertaken periodically., Networking such talent is another way of, strengthening it., 5.2.1 Assessment, Given that mathematics is a compulsory subject in, all school years, all summative evaluation must take, into account the concerns of universalization. Since, the Board examination for Class X is for a certificate, given by the State, implications of certified failure, must be considered seriously. Given the reality of, the educational scenario, the fact that Class X is a, terminal point for many is relevant; applying the, same single standard of assessment for these students, as well as for rendering eligibility for the higher, secondary stage seems indefensible. When we legally, bind all children to complete ten years of schooling,, the SSLC certificate of passing that the State issues, should be seen as a basic requirement rather than a, certificate of competence or expertise., Keeping these considerations in mind, and given, the high failure rate in mathematics, we suggest that, the Board examinations be restructured. They must, ensure that all numerate citizens pass and become, eligible for a State certificate. (What constitutes, numeracy in a citizen may be a matter of social, policy.) Nearly half the content of the examination, may be geared towards this., However, the rest of the examination needs to, challenge students far more than it does now,, emphasizing competence and expertise rather than, memory. Evaluating conceptual understanding, rather than fast computational ability in the Board, examinations will send a signal of intent to the entire, system, and over a period of time, cause a shift in, pedagogy as well., , These remarks pertain to all forms of summative, examinations at the school level as well. Multiple, modes of assessment, rather than the unique test, pattern, need to be encouraged. This calls for a great, deal of research and a wide variety of assessment, models to be created and widely disseminated., 5.3 Teacher Support, The systemic changes that we have advocated require, substantial investments of time, energy, and support, on the part of teachers. Professional development,, affecting the beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and, practices of teachers in the school, is central to, achieving this change. In order for the vision, described in this paper to become a reality, it is, critical that professional development focuses on, mathematics specifically. Generic ‘teacher training’, does not provide the understanding of content, of, instructional techniques, and of critical issues in, mathematics education that is needed by classroom, teachers., There are many mechanisms that need to be, ensured to offer better teacher support and, professional development, but the essential and, central requirement is that of a large treasury of, resource material which teachers can access freely, as well as contribute to. Further, networking of, teachers so that expertise and experience can be, shared is important. In addition, identifying and, nurturing resource teachers can greatly help the, process. Regional mathematics libraries may be built, to act as resource centres., An important area of concern is the teacher’s, own perception of what mathematics is, and what, constitute the goals of mathematics education. Many, of the processes we have outlined above are not, considered to be central by most mathematics, teachers, mainly because of the way they were
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14, taught and a lack of any later training on such, processes., Offering a range of material to teachers that, enriches their understanding of the subject, provides, insights into the conceptual and historical, development of the subject and helps them innovate, in their classrooms is the best means of teacher, support. For this, providing channels of, communication with college teachers and research, mathematicians will be of great help. When teachers, network among themselves and link up with teachers, in universities, their pedagogic competence will be, strengthened immensely. Such systematic sharing, of experience and expertise can be of great help., , 6. CURRICULAR CHOICES, Acknowledging the existence of choices in, curriculum is an important step in the, institutionalization of education. Hence, when we, speak of shifting the focus from content to learning, environments, we are offering criteria by which a, curriculum designer may resolve choices. For, instance, visualization and geometric reasoning are, important processes to be ensured, and this has, implications for teaching algebra. Students who, ‘blindly’ manipulate equations without being able, to visualize and understand the underlying, geometric picture cannot be said to have, understood. If this means greater coverage for, geometric reasoning (in terms of lessons, pages in, textbook), it has to be ensured. Again, if such, expansion can only be achieved by reducing other, (largely computational) content, such content, reduction is implied., Below, while discussing stage-wise content, we, offer many such inclusion /exclusion criteria for, the curriculum designer, emphasizing again that the, , recommendation is not to dilute content, but to, give importance to a variety of processes. Moreover,, we suggest a principle of postponement: in general,, if a theme can be offered with better motivation, and applications at a later stage, wait for introducing, it at that stage, rather than go for technical, preparation without due motivation. Such, considerations are critical at the secondary and, higher secondary stages where a conscious choice, between breadth and depth is called for. Here, a, quotation from William Thurston is appropriate:, The long-range objectives of mathematics, education would be better served if the tall, shape of mathematics were de-emphasized, by, moving away from a standard sequence to a, more diversified curriculum with more topics, that start closer to the ground. There have, been some trends in this direction, such as, courses in finite mathematics and in probability, but there is room for much more. 17, 6.1 Primary Stage, Any curriculum for primary mathematics must, incorporate the progression from the concrete to, the abstract and subsequently a need to appreciate, the importance of abstraction in mathematics. In, the lowest classes, especially, it is important that, activities with concrete objects form the first step, in the classroom to enable the child to understand, the connections between the logical functioning of, their everyday lives to that of mathematical thinking., Mathematical games, puzzles and stories, involving number are useful to enable children to, make these connections and to build upon their, everyday understandings. Games – not to be, confused with open-ended play - provide nondidactic feedback to the child, with a minimum
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15, amount of teacher intervention 18. They promote, processes of anticipation, planning and strategy., 6.1.1 Mathematics is not just arithmetic, While addressing number and number operations,, due place must be given to non-number areas of, mathematics. These include shapes, spatial, understanding, patterns, measurement and data, handling. It is not enough to deal with shapes and, their properties as a prelude to geometry in the, higher classes. It is important also to build up a, vocabulary of relational words which extend the, child’s understanding of space. The identification, of patterns is central to mathematics. Starting with, simple patterns of repeating shapes, the child can, move on to more complex patterns involving shapes, as well as numbers. This lays the base for a mode of, thinking that can be called algebraic. A primary, curriculum that is rich in such activities can arguably, make the transition to algebra easier in the middle, grades.19 Data handling, which forms the base for, statistics in the higher classes, is another neglected, area of school mathematics and can be introduced, right from Class I., 6.1.2 Number and number operations, Children come equipped with a set of intuitive and, cultural ideas about number and simple operations, at the point of entry into school. These should be, used to make linkages and connections to number, understanding rather than treating the child as a, tabula rasa. To learn to think in mathematical ways, children need to be logical and to understand logical, rules, but they also need to learn conventions needed, for the mastery of mathematical techniques such as, the use of a base ten system. Activities as basic as, counting and understanding numeration systems, involve logical understandings for which children, , need time and practice if they are to attain mastery, and then to be able to use them as tools for thinking, and for mathematical problem solving20. Working, with limited quantities and smaller numbers, prevents overloading the child’s cognitive capacity, which can be better used for mastering the logical, skills at these early stages., Operations on natural numbers usually form a, major part of primary mathematics syllabi., However, the standard algorithms of addition,, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole, numbers in the curriculum have tended to occupy, a dominant role in these. This tends to happen at, the expense of development of number sense and, skills of estimation and approximation. The result, frequently is that students, when faced with word, problems, ask “Should I add or subtract? Should I, multiply or divide?” This lack of a conceptual base, continues to haunt the child in later classes. All this, strongly suggests that operations should be, introduced contextually. This should be followed, by the development of language and symbolic, notation, with the standard algorithms coming at, the end rather than the beginning of the treatment., 6.1.3 Fractions and decimals, Fractions and decimals constitute another major, problem area. There is some evidence that the, introduction of operations on fractions coincides, with the beginnings of fear of mathematics. The, content in these areas needs careful reconsideration., Everyday contexts in which fractions appear, and, in which arithmetical operations need to be done, on them, have largely disappeared with the, introduction of metric units and decimal currency., At present, the child is presented with a number of, contrived situations in which operations have to be
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16, performed on fractions. Moreover, these operations, have to be done using a set of rules which appear, arbitrary (often even to the teacher), and have to be, memorized - this at a time when the child is still, grappling with the rules for operating on whole, numbers. While the importance of fractions in the, conceptual structure of mathematics is undeniable,, the above considerations seem to suggest that less, emphasis on operations with fractions at the, primary level is called for.21, 6.2 Upper Primary Stage, Mathematics is amazingly compressible: one may, struggle a lot, work out something, perhaps by, trying many methods. But once it is understood,, and seen as a whole, it can be filed away, and used, as just a step when needed. The insight that goes, into this compression is one of the great joys of, mathematics. A major goal of the upper primary, stage is to introduce the student to this particular, pleasure., The compressed form lends itself to application, and use in a variety of contexts. Thus, mathematics, at this stage can address many problems from, everyday life, and offer tools for addressing them., Indeed, the transition from arithmetic to algebra,, at once both challenging and rewarding, is best seen, in this light., , patterns in the relationships bring useful life skills to, children. Ideas of prime numbers, odd and even, numbers, tests of divisibility etc. offer scope for, such exploration., Algebraic notation, introduced at this stage, is, best seen as a compact language, a means of succinct, expression. Use of variables, setting up and solving, linear equations, identities and factoring are means, by which students gain fluency in using the new, language., The use of arithmetic and algebra in solving, real problems of importance to daily life can be, emphasized. However, engaging children’s interest, and offering a sense of success in solving such, problems is essential., , 6.2.2 Shape, space and measures, A variety of regular shapes are introduced to students, at this stage: triangles, circles, quadrilaterals, They offer, a rich new mathematical experience in at least four ways., Children start looking for such shapes in nature, all, around them, and thereby discover many symmetries, and acquire a sense of aesthetics. Secondly, they learn, how many seemingly irregular shapes can be, approximated by regular ones, which becomes an, important technique in science. Thirdly, they start, comprehending the idea of space: for instance, that a, circle is a path or boundary which separates the space, , 6.2.1 Arithmetic and algebra, A consolidation of basic concepts and skills learnt, at primary school is necessary from several points, of view. For one thing, ensuring numeracy in all, children is an important aspect of universalization, of elementary education. Secondly, moving from, number sense to number patterns, seeing, relationships between numbers, and looking for, , inside the circle from that outside it. Fourthly, they start, associating numbers with shapes, like area, perimeter, etc, and this technique of quantization, or arithmetization,, is of great importance. This also suggests that, mensuration is best when integrated with geometry., An informal introduction to geometry is possible, using a range of activities like paper folding, and dissection, and exploring ideas of symmetry
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17, and transformation. Observing geometrical properties, and inferring geometrical truth is the main objective, here. Formal proofs can wait for a later stage., 6.2.3 Visual learning, Data handling, representation and visualization are, important mathematical skills which can be taught, at this stage. They can be of immense use as “life, skills”. Students can learn to appreciate how railway, time tables, directories and calendars organize, information compactly., Data handling should be suitably introduced, as tools to understand process, represent and, interpret day-to-day data. Use of graphical, representations of data can be encouraged. Formal, techniques for drawing linear graphs can be taught., Visual Learning fosters understanding,, organization, and imagination. Instead of, emphasizing only two-column proofs, students, should also be given opportunities to justify their own, conclusions with less formal, but nonetheless, convincing, arguments. Students’ spatial reasoning, and visualization skills should be enhanced. The, study of geometry should make full use of all, available technology. A student when given visual, scope to learning remembers pictures, diagrams,, flowcharts, formulas, and procedures., 6.3 Secondary Stage, It is at this stage that Mathematics comes to the, student as an academic discipline. In a sense, at the, elementary stage, mathematics education is (or, ought to be) guided more by the logic of children’s, psychology of learning rather than the logic of, mathematics. But at the secondary stage, the student, begins to perceive the structure of mathematics. For, , this, the notions of argumentation and proof become, central to curriculum now., Mathematical terminology is highly stylised, selfconscious and rigorous. The student begins to feel, comfortable and at ease with the characteristics of, mathematical communication: carefully defined terms, and concepts, the use of symbols to represent them,, precisely stated propositions using only terms defined, earlier, and proofs justifying propositions. The student, appreciates how an edifice is built up, arguments, constructed using propositions justified earlier, to prove, a theorem, which in turn is used in proving more., For long, geometry and trigonometry have wisely, been regarded as the arena wherein students can learn, to appreciate this structure best. In the elementary stage,, if students have learnt many shapes and know how to, associate quantities and formulas with them, here they, start reasoning about these shapes using the defined, quantities and formulas., Algebra, introduced earlier, is developed at some, length at this stage. Facility with algebraic, manipulation is essential, not only for applications, of mathematics, but also internally in mathematics., Proofs in geometry and trigonometry show the, usefulness of algebraic machinery. It is important, to ensure that students learn to geometrically, visualise what they accomplish algebraically., A substantial part of the secondary mathematics, curriculum can be devoted to consolidation. This, can be and needs to be done in many ways. Firstly,, the student needs to integrate the many techniques, of mathematics she has learnt into a problem solving, ability. For instance, this implies a need for posing, problems to students which involve more than one, content area: algebra and trigonometry, geometry, and mensuration, and so on. Secondly, mathematics
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18, is used in the physical and social sciences, and making, the connections explicit can inspire students immensely., Thirdly, mathematical modelling, data analysis and, interpretation, taught at this stage, can consolidate a, high level of literacy. For instance, consider an, environment related project, where the student has to, set up a simple linear approximation and model a, phenomenon, solve it, visualise the solution, and deduce, a property of the modelled system. The consolidated, learning from such an activity builds a responsible citizen,, who can later intuitively analyse information available, in the media and contribute to democratic decision, making., At the secondary stage, a special emphasis on, experimentation and exploration may be, worthwhile. Mathematics laboratories are a recent, phenomenon, which hopefully will expand, considerably in future 22 . Activities in practical, mathematics help students immensely in, visualisation. Indeed, Singh, Avtar and Singh offer, excellent suggestions for activities at all stages. Periodic, systematic evaluation of the impact of such laboratories, and activities23 will help in planning strategies for scaling, up these attempts., 6.4 Higher Secondary Stage, Principally, the higher secondary stage is the, launching pad from which the student is guided, towards career choices, whether they imply, university education or otherwise. By this time, the, student’s interests and aptitude have been largely, determined, and mathematics education in these, two years can help in sharpening her abilities., The most difficult curricular choice to be made, at this stage relates to that between breadth and, depth. A case can be made for a broadbased, curriculum that offers exposure to a variety of, , subjects; equally well, we can argue for limiting the, number of topics to a few and developing, competence in the selected areas. While there are, no formulaic answers to this question, we point to, the Thurston remark quoted above once again., Indeed, Thurston is in favour of breadth even, as an alternative to remedial material which merely, goes over the same material once more,, handicapping enthusiasm and spontaneity., Instead, there should be more courses available, … which exploit some of the breadth of mathematics, to permit starting near the ground, level, without a lot of repetition of topics that, students have already heard., When we choose breadth, we not only need to, decide which themes to develop, but also how far, we want to go in developing those themes. In this, regard, we suggest that the decision be dictated by, mathematical, considerations., For, instance,, introducing projective geometry can be more, important for mathematics as a discipline than, projectile motion (which can be well studied in, physics). Similarly, the length of treatment should, be dictated by whether mathematical objectives are, met. For instance, if the objective of introducing, complex numbers is to show that the enriched, system allows for solutions to all polynomial, equations, the theme should be developed until the, student can at least get an idea of how this is, possible. If there is no space for such a treatment, it, is best that the theme not be introduced; showing, operations on complex numbers and representations, without any understanding of why such a study is, relevant is unhelpful., Currently, mathematics curriculum at the, higher secondary stage tends to be dominated by, differential and integral calculus, making for more
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19, than half the content in Class XII. Since Board, examinations are conducted on Class XII syllabus, this, subject acquires tremendous importance among, students and teachers. Given the nature of Board, examinations as well as other entrance examinations,, the manipulative and computational aspects of, calculus tend to dominate mathematics at this stage., This is a great pity, since many interesting topics, (sets, relations, logic, sequences and series, linear, inequalities, combinatorics) introduced to students, in Class XI can give them good mathematical insight, but these are typically given short shrift. Curriculum, designers should address this problem while, considering the distribution of content between, Classes XI and XII., In many parts of the world, the desirability of, having electives at this stage, offering different, aspects of mathematics, has been acknowledged., However, implementation of a system of electives, is dauntingly difficult, given the need for a variety, of textbooks and more teachers, as well as the, centralized nature of examinations. Yet, experimenting, with ideas that offer a range of options to students, will be worthwhile., 6.5 Mathematics and Mathematicians, At all stages of the curriculum, an element of, humanizing the curriculum is essential. The, development of mathematics has many interesting, stories to be told, and every student’s daily life, includes many experiences relevant to mathematics., Bringing these stories and accounts into the, curriculum is essential for children to see, mathematics in perspective. Lives of mathematicians, and stories of mathematical insights are not only, endearing, they can also be inspiring., , A specific case can be made for highlighting, the contribution made by Indian mathematicians. An, appreciation of such contributions will help students, see the place of mathematics in our culture. Mathematics, has been an important part of Indian history and culture,, and students can be greatly inspired by understanding, the seminal contributions made by Indian, mathematicians in early periods of history., Similarly, contributions by women mathematicians, from all over the world are worth highlighting. This is, important, mainly to break the prevalent myth that, mathematics has been an essentially male domain, and, also to invite more girls to the mathematical enterprise., , 7. CONCLUSION, In a sense, all these are steps advocated by every, mathematics educator over decades. The difference here, is in emphasis, in achieving these actions by way of, curricular choices. Perhaps the most compelling reason, for the vision of mathematics education we have, articulated is that our children will be better served by, higher expectations, by curricula which go far beyond, basic skills and include a variety of mathematical models,, and by pedagogy which devotes a greater percentage, of instructional time to problem solving and active, learning. Many students respond to the current curriculum, with boredom and discouragement, develop the, perception that success in mathematics depends on some, innate ability which they simply do not have, and feel, that, in any case, mathematics will never be useful in their, lives. Learning environments like the one described in, the vision will help students to enjoy and appreciate the, value of mathematics, to develop the tools they need, for varied educational and career options, and to function, effectively as citizens.
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20, Our vision of excellent mathematical education, is based on the twin premises that all students can, learn mathematics and that all students need, to learn mathematics. Curricula that assume student, failure are bound to fail; we need to develop, , curricula that assume student success. We are at a, historic juncture when we wish to guarantee, education for all. It is therefore a historic imperative, to offer our children the very highest quality of, mathematics education possible., , REFERENCES, Wheeler, David, “Mathematisation Matters,” For the Learning of Mathematics, 3,1; 45 - 47, 1982., Polya, George, “The goals of Mathematical education”, in ComMuniCator, the magazine of the, California Mathematics Council, 1969., “Principles and Standards for School Mathematics”, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics,, USA, 2000., “The New Jersey Mathematics standards and curriculum framework”, The New Jersey Mathematics, Coalition, J.G. Rosenstein (Ed), 1997., Mathematics Academic Content Standards, California State Board of Education, 2004., “Mathematics Syllabi”, Curriculum planning and development division, Ministry of Education,, Singapore, 2001., “Mathematics Learning Area” statement, Curriculum Corporation, Melbourne, Australia, 2001., Nemetz, T., “Mathematics education in Hungary.” In : I. Morris, S.A. Arora: Moving into the twenty, first century, UNESCO Series: Studies in mathematics education, No.8., 1991, pp. 105-112., Howson, G.A., “National Curricula in Mathematics”, The Mathematical Association, University of, Southampton, 1991, pp. 115-125., Ferrini-Mundy, J., Burrill, G. and Breaux, G. (Eds), “Mathematics Education Around the World:, Bridging Policy and Practice”, Report of the 2001 IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute Seminar,, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 2001., Buxton, Laurie. Math Panic. London: Heinemann, 1991.
