The discussion between school mathematics and street mathematics is not new. It has been cropping up time and again, not just in India but all around the world. I first read about this during my B.El.Ed days in the book, "Street Mathematics and School Mathematics (Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives)" by Terezinha Nunes, David William Carraher and Analucia Dias Schliemann published in 1993. Since then, I have read many studies on similar themes and by now we all know, there is a lot of difference between math used by children and adults at work and math taught in school.

Bridging the gap

With similar concern, the main goal of Mathematics education in schools according to National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005, is the 'mathematisation' of a child's thinking. Child should be able to interpret and express real life, context-based problems mathematically. It is the context that turns the abstract subject into concrete, relatable subject. Since then, there is a shift in textbooks from just numerical problems to stories, context-based problems so that there is a need for the reader to think and work accordingly.

But such problems are still limited and teachers need to go beyond the textbook and create the situations for children to think and solve, sadly at the end of it, we all expect children to use standard algorithm and solve the problems and not devise their own strategies to solve which they might devise in a real life setup. The situation forces teachers to go back and teach just the standard algorithm first and then instruct students to solve word problems using the set procedures.

Role of Teachers

I am thankful to the author for acknowledging that it is not teachers' fault. So, in a school set up, we are back to square one and are focusing on procedural mathematics a lot more than on conceptual mathematics.

What we need to focus on is to bridge the gap between the two. We need amalgamation of conceptual math and procedural math. We know, teaching standard algorithms is important for big numbers but at what stage and how should we introduce, it should be researched and debated further. Accordingly, the curriculum should be reformed, and the teachers should be trained. It might take a lot of time as it involves unlearning our focus on standard procedures and set answers and then learning how to nurture mathematical minds. Meanwhile, as teachers and grown-ups who deal with numbers on everyday basis, we know that in real world we will be using our own mental math strategies than using pen and paper to calculate and so we must try and make our students think and find solutions mentally. Expose them to a variety of open-ended problems and let them devise their own strategies, their own logical thinking and their own solutions. Let us give them wings to fly

Preeti Chandan, Math Teacher, RSJMS

I am a passionate learner at heart, with 23 years of experience dedicated to nurturing mathematical skills in young children. Over the years, I have served both as a teacher and a teacher trainer, but the joy and satisfaction I derive from working directly with children far surpass any other role. I strongly believe in staying abreast of the latest developments in education, and I enjoy experimenting with new strategies and evolving pedagogies to make learning more effective and engaging.