Exploring Teachers' Perspectives on Promoting the Application of Mathematics in Unfamiliar Situations: A Case Study

Abstract

Various commissions and policies stressed on the importance of connecting 
mathematics to unfamiliar situations while teaching. Position paper of mathematics of National 
Curriculum Framework (2005) suggested two types of goals of teaching mathematics: broader 
goal and narrow goal. Broader goal of teaching mathematics is mathematisation and narrow 
goal is numeracy and computation. But the literature suggests that in present day classroom 
mathematics teaching practices, component of promoting connection with unfamiliar situations 
is insufficient and infrequent. Rather few studies particularly suggest whether, how and why 
teachers should connect mathematics to unfamiliar situations. In this paper, the researchers 
tried to answer the question: what is the perspective of teachers regarding ability of students to 
apply mathematics in unfamiliar situations? For answering this question, the researchers 
conducted a survey with 30 secondary mathematics teachers of 10 different Delhi government 
schools. The survey contains items that indicate about the factors that promote and/or constrain 
the ability of students to connect mathematics to unfamiliar situations. Survey is followed up by 
interview of 10 teachers out of 30 to triangulate the results. The results obtained give an insight 
about the perspective of teachers as well as suggest other important issues for further research. 
Moreover, the results may be helpful while devising different mathematics teaching strategies 
according to varying needs of learners