Demathematising Mathematics: Experiences from the field

1. Demathematising Mathematics: Experiences from the field Bal Chandra Luitel SMEC, Curtin University of Technology Acknowledgements: My supervisor Prof. Peter Taylor, Associate Supervisor Dr. Elisabeth Settelmaier and my research participants in Nepal.

2. Experiences from the field • My evolving ontology epistemology and methodology • My evolving research foci • My proposed chapter plan Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

3. Interview: General information • Interview participants: teachers, postgraduatestudents, teachereducators and curriculumexperts. • Recorded interviews of about 30 hours. • Interview as conversation, exchange and sharing (Ellis & Berger, 2003; Holstein & Gubrium, 2003; Kvale, 1996) Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

4. Selected Emerging themes (i) • Different perceptions about the nature of mathematics • Role of mathematics in national development • Restructuring of mathematics curricula in accordance with mathematics education for all • Connection between mathematical knowledge and ‘labour’ • Developing/producing mathematics teacher with the vision of inclusive education Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

5. Selected Emerging themes (ii) • Cultural contextualisation of mathematics education • Nature of mathematical learning • Biographies of interviewees pertaining to their experiences as students and teachers of mathematics • Integrating mathematics with other subject areas • Social construction of mathematical knowledge • Mathematics, local languages and medium of instruction • Mathematics and the world of work Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

6. Selected Emerging themes (iii) • Ideological baggage of ‘pure mathematics people’ • Education faculty’s role: What, how, why and when of mathematics • Politics within mathematics: Example of Leibniz and Newton, Example of patenting eastern knowledge by some American companies • Making mathematics curriculum meaningful: Bottom-up approach, praxis-oriented designs • Linking academic world of mathematics education with the world of school • Mathematics education in non-formal setting Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

7. Some selected nodal moments (i) • Communication is a problem sir! … is good with seniors but not open with students. • …sir is changing gradually. • Harsh email for professional development • Timeline, project and material write-ups • We all are subalterns in her class. • This is the American system. • Computer application and ethnomathematics • Do you also teach content or only pedagogical ‘soft’ courses? • We need a frame, structure and product. • You are like a dictator! • Looking into my ‘selves’ Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

8. Some selected nodal moments (ii) • School is a source of hierarchy! We need to restructure the feudal legacy in (mathematics) education. • Math is math… you cannot localise it. • The data, student (dis)satisfaction and my worry • Culture? We need to get rid of it. • Dr. America and myself • Mathematics and culture: I am getting puzzled • I am not happy with the grade you gave me! • Why are you so critical about Algebra and Analysis? • Do I need to study Algebra and Analysis here? Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

9. Some Examples of mathematical activities: UNESCO Report • Math in khole (gruel making process) • Math in Chyang making Process • Math in Chheki Khel • Math in squash Kheti • Math in making Makaiko Jhutto (bunch of Maize) • Math in selling Milk • Math in Measuring the food grains from field • Math in Total households in the village/total numbers of persons in the village • Maths in Doko (Wicker basket) Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

10. Contextualised, deep, informal, embodied, verbal, practical, artefactual (CM) Decontextualised, shallow, superficial, formal, pure, algorithmic (DCM) The Mandala Model (Taylor, Luitel, Belbase & Pokhrel, 2006) • The Mathematical Axis Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

11. The Mandala Model • The pedagogical axis Constructionist, Meaningful, open inquiry, communicative, emancipatory CP IP Instructionist, Reproductive, individualistic, ritualistic, rationalistic, closed inquiry Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

12. Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

13. My ontology, epistemology and methodology Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

14. I/Self + External Realities External Realities My ontology, epistemology and methodology (i) • Ontology: What is reality? The world out there or the world inside my mind? Or both in a dialectical relationship? Where is the self that aims to claim to know? • Non/dual view of the world (Loy, 1997; Radhakrishnan, 1923; Wilber, 1996) Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

15. My evolving ontology, epistemology and methodology (ii) self --culturally embedded self --culture self --self that interprets other ---other (Co-self and co-other) autobiography--------------- ethnography autoethnography (Afonso & Taylor, in press; Roth, 2005) Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

16. My evolving ontology, epistemology and methodology (iii) Quality criteria: • The triple crisis: Crisis of representation, legitimacy and praxis • Art-based criteria: playfulness, verisimilitude, multiple textualities • Pedagogical criteria: pedagogical thoughtfulness and wakefulness Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

17. My evolving ontology, epistemology and methodology (iv) • Transformation of conversation, reflective and other field-based texts into performance texts - poetic, storied, phenomenal and so forth. • Generation of ‘data texts’ and interpretive texts (Taylor & Luitel, 2006; Luitel, in press). • Organising them into chapters on the basis of the growth of my inquiry. Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

18. Research foci (i) • Which philosophies have been governing the existing Mathematics Teacher Education programs in Nepal? • In what ways are the Western Mathematical Worldview and Nepali Worldview similar and different in terms of their epistemologies and ontologies? • In what ways can nondual traditions of the East (Vedanta and Buddhism) contribute to the development of an alternative philosophy of mathematics teacher education in Nepal? Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

19. Research foci (ii) • What are alternative ways of knowing mathematics in my cultural context? How can those ways be brought into mainstream teacher education? • How can mathematical knowledge for teacher education in Nepal be made holistic, ecologically balanced, discursive and socially responsible? • What can a transformative philosophy of mathematics teacher education be for Nepal? Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

20. My chapter plan (i) Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

21. My chapter plan (ii) Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

22. My chapter plan (iii) Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

23. My chapter plan (iv) Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

24. My chapter plan Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology

25. Not really …Finally S/he says ‘Oh mathematics! I never liked its tricks. I always wished to know. My teacher wanted me to ‘rote’ and go. I didn’t know where. I was still there. My teacher was also still there. We all were there. No one was moving but mathematics with its self-referential hoax of pure logic.’ Bal Chandra Luitel, SMEC Curtin University of Technology