Teaching and Learning Issues in Mathematics
In the Context of Nepal
A maste's Seminar paper presented to
The Faculty of education
Department of Mathematics Education
Tirbhuvan University
In partial fulfillment
Of the requirement of the Degree of
Mathematics Education
Report submitted to: Sarala Luitel
By
(Yadav Chandra Bista)
Roll No. 379
Feb 2019
Seminar paper
Teaching and Learning Issues in Mathematics
In the Context of Nepal
Introduction
Classrooms in Nepal are multicultural and multilingual
in general because students come to the school from different cultural and
linguistic background. This context resonates with what Gates (2006) expressed,
"in many parts of the world, mathematics teachers are facing the
challenges of teaching in multi-ethnic and multi-lingual classrooms
containing-- immigrant, indigenous, migrant, and refugee children, and if
research is to be useful it has to address and help us understand such
challenges" (p. 391). We agree with
Gates' opinion that mathematics classroom situation in Nepal is the same as
stated above because multi-lingual and different ethnic groups have their own
problems in a classroom context. Also,
we have the classroom issues related to internal refugees and migrants due to
the ten-year conflict in the country and post-conflict political instability.
These issues are creating challenges for us in teaching and learning
mathematics. The mathematics curricula designed by experts and implemented by
the government to all grade levels do not fit our culture. We teach foreign mathematics.
It has been imposed upon the teachers and students. We feel that it is western
mathematics that we are teaching and learning without considering the needs of
students, diversity and values of our society, and norms of the eastern
culture. In a similar way, Anastasiadou (2008) writes: The de facto
multiculturalism (…) which now describes the Greek society, [which] continues
to function with the logic of assimilation (…). In the field of education, the
adoption of the policy of assimilation means that it continues to have a
monolingual and monoculture approach in order that every pupil is helped to
acquire competence in the dominant language and the dominant culture.
(Anastasiadou 2008, p. 2) We are blindfolded to accept the imposed theories and
practices without considering the richness of social and cultural diversity,
geopolitical complexity, and local knowledge system.
Teaching and learning
mathematics in our country (Nepal). In this paper, I discuss major issues of
mathematics teaching and learning in Nepal. I have discussed theoretical issues
of mathematics teaching and learning based on radical and social
constructivism. The issues related to social aspects are gender issues,
language issues, social justice issues, and issues related to the achievement
gap. The cultural issues are related to the diversity of language and
ethnicity.
Theoritical Issue
There are many theories
and philosophies in mathematics education. Radical and social constructivisms
are the two philosophies and theories that have been widely debated and
discussed in the literature of mathematics education (Belbase 2014). The views
of mathematics such as mathematics as a foreign subject, mathematics as a
collection of symbols, mathematics as a meaningless subject, mathematics as a
body of pure knowledge, and mathematics as an objective knowledge (Luitel 2009)
have dominated the worldview of most of the math teachers and curriculum
experts in Nepal. I would like to present some theoretical issues of radical
and social constructivism of mathematics education in this section. The choice
of these two dominant theories are based on contemporary debate on whether
learning mathematics is an individual or social phenomenon and the nature of
Nepalese social and cultural value system.
Radical Constructivism
Theory of radical
constructivism accepts that students build their concepts of what they learn
through active cognitive and adaptive process. Students may give their
reflection and argument about the content, process, and product in teaching and
learning and they construct the knowledge of mathematics (Leo 1990). However,
these phenomena are related to social and cultural adaptation of knowledge and
knowing. The role of language and interactions among peers or community of
practice has not been well conceived in this paradigm and the excessive focus
on the individual process of knowing and constructing knowledge has created a
ground for dilemma (Belbase 2014). While adopting radical constructivism,
teachers try to give them adequate support in learning mathematics. However,
the poor language background of the students, traditional curriculum with
content focus, passive students, diversity of ethnic groups, traditional
teaching method (focus on rote memorization), and assessment without focus on
creation, our diverse socio-cultural context, and lack of inquiry-based
teaching and learning practices are some of the major issues for implementing
radical constructivism in Nepalese context.
Social Constructivism
Mathematics knowledge
is constructed through social interaction. The mediation plays a significant
role in learning mathematics. It focuses that child learn from other or society
through active interactions and participation in activities in groups or peers.
Scaffolding and guidance are necessary for learners. Vygotsky described Zone of
Proximal Development (ZPD) as a distance between child's ability in independent
problem solving and potential ability of problem-solving with guidance (Burton
1999)
The issues from the
theory of social constructivism in our context are-- our traditional
curriculum, conventional assessment system, and classroom size. The objective
of our curriculum does not focus on the construction of new knowledge by
students or it does not encourage teachers to engage active construction of
knowledge by students.
Social Issues
In our understanding, the major social
issues of teaching mathematics are issues of language, issues of gender,
ethnicity, and social justice in the context of Nepal. We reflect on each of
them in brief. The low educational and social background is directly and
strictly related to low results (MOE 2013).
Language Issues
The language is not merely a means of
communication, but it is also a vehicle of understanding. Students make sense
or create meaning in their language. The most efficient way to Teaching and
Learning Issues in Mathematics
Gender Issues
There is an issue of differential attainment
between genders. The female students may have less interest in studying
mathematics beyond schools in our context. There are so many causes behind
girls not liking to continue mathematics at the higher level. The parents might
give less priority to the daughters, and their daughters are not getting equal
opportunities as their sons
Ethnic Issues
Another issue in Nepalese context is
ethnicity. There are the different ethnic background of the students and teachers.
In our context, they represent the various social classes in our mathematics
classroom. But, our mathematics curricula have been designed with a preference
to certain social groups over others. Therefore, mathematics education tends to
favor one dominant social class over others.
Social Justice Issues
The next issue is
social justice. It is necessary for educating the mathematics learners and
teachers about social justice. In my opinion, when the teachers deliberate
their knowledge to the students, there is a hierarchical position of the
teacher and students. There is a power relation between the students and
teachers. The teachers may observe the social status of students (or their
families) and treat them accordingly by discriminating based on social class.
The students have a different position in the classroom based on which social
group do they belong to and how they present themselves in the class depends on
where they come from. These are ongoing unfair practices in teaching and
learning mathematics in Nepal, and these practices are the primary causes of
social injustice in the classrooms (Panthi 2016).
Achievement Issues
There is a huge gap of student achievement in
mathematics across the geographical region, ethnicity, and gender (MOE 2015).
The report of NASA stated that: In mathematics, the average achievement score
is 57% in the private schools whereas it is 26% in the community (or public)
schools. However, it is not clear whether it is due to the effectiveness of
instructional processes in the institutional schools or manifestation of the
disparity of socio-economic status of students in these two different school systems.
(MOE 2015, p. vii)
Conclusion
In conclusion we already
discussed different issues of teaching and learning mathematics in relation to
theoretical, social, cultural, political, and technological aspects. Pointing
to the problems and challenges could be an easy task whereas providing a
feasible solution is a challenge for us. We would like to discuss some
practical, pedagogical and curricular measures to resolve these issues in the
context of Nepal. We realized that there should be more research studies to
understand the nature and gravity of these issues and their impacts in teaching
and learning mathematics and their consequences in general in Nepal. The
discussion above might give us a glimpse of these issues and it provides some
feedback to the teachers, parents, curriculum planners and policy makers about
the issues related to mathematics curriculum, emergent practices and pedagogy
in the teaching and learning mathematics in the context of Nepal.
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