ABSTRACT
Workplace mathematics, a subgroup of research on everyday mathematics and ethnomathematics documents the mathematical activities of both adults and children outside school settings. In this paper, I document the mental mathematical activities of a group of bus conductors in Chennai, India. I draw into the research areas of mental computation and everyday mathematics to report on bus conductors’ use of mental mathematics at work and highlight the role of context and context related parameters in their mental mathematical activities.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ascher, M. (1991). Ethnomathematics: A multicultural view of mathematical ideas. New York, NY: Chapman and Hall.
Brenner, M. E. (1998). Development of mathematical communication in problem solving groups by language minority students. Bilingual Research Journal, 22(2), 149–174.
Brenner, M. E. & Moschkovich, J. N. (Eds.). (2002). Everyday and academic mathematics in the classroom. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education. Monograph No. 11. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Carraher, D. W. (1991). Mathematics in and out of school: A selective review of studies from Brazil. In M. Harris (Ed.), Schools, mathematics and work (pp. 169–202). Bristol, PA: Falmer Press.
Carraher, T. N., Carraher, D. W. & Schliemann, A. D. (1987). Written and oral mathematics. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 18, 83–97.
D’Ambrosio, U. (1990). The role of mathematics education in building a democratic and just society. For the Learning of Mathematics, 10(3), 20–23.
D’Ambrosio, U. (2007). Peace, Social Justice and Ethnomathematics. In B. Sriraman (Ed.), International Perspectives on Social Justice in Mathematics Education. The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast, Monograph 1 (pp. 25-34). Retrieved from http://www.math.umt.edu/tmme/monograph1/d%27ambrosio_final_pp25_34.pdf
Eglash, R., Bennett, A., O’Donnell, C., Jennings, S. & Cintorino, M. (2006). Culturally situated designed tools: Ethnocomputing from field site to classroom. American Anthropologist, 108(2), 347–362.
Gahamanyi, M., Andersson, I., & Bergsten, C. (2009). Using mathematics as a tool in Rwandan workplace settings: The case of taxi drivers. Proceedings of the Sixth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME), Lyon, France. Retrieved from http://ife.ens-lyon.fr/publications/edition-electronique/cerme6/wg8-05-gahamanyi.pdf
Gerdes, P. (2010). Otthava: Making baskets and doing geometry in the Makhuwa culture in the northeast of Mozambique. Morrisville, NC: Lúrio University, Nampula & Lulu.
Guberman, S. R. (1996). The development of everyday mathematics in Brazilian children with limited formal education. Child Development, 67, 1609–1623.
Hoyles, C., & Noss, R. (2002). Problematising statistical meanings: A sociocultural perspective. In B. Phillips (Ed.), Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Teaching of Statistics (pp. 1-6). Retrieved from http://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/publications/1/2e3_hoyl.pdf
Joseph, G. G. (1987). Foundations of Eurocentricism in mathematics. Race and Class, 28(3), 13–28.
Jurdak, M. & Shahin, I. (1999). An ethnographic study of the computational strategies of a group of young street vendors in Beirut. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 40(2), 155–172.
Lave, J. (1988). Cognition in practice: Mind, mathematics and culture in everyday life. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Magajna, Z. & Monaghan, J. (2003). Advanced mathematical thinking in a technological workplace. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 52(2), 101–122.
Masingila, J. O. (1994). Mathematics practice in carpet laying. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 25(4), 430–462.
Matos, J, F., & Santos, M. (2008). Activity, artefacts and power: Contribution of activity theory and situated learning to the analysis of artefacts in mathematical thinking in practice. In J.F. Matos, P. Valero, & K. Yasukawa (Eds.) Proceedings of the Fifth International Mathematics Education and Society Conference (pp. 1-9). Retrieved from http://mes5.learning.aau.dk/Papers/Matos_Santos.pdf
Metropolitan Transport Corporation. (2013). Retrieved April 1, 2013, from http://www.mtcbus.org
Millroy, W. L. (1992). An ethnographic study of the mathematical ideas of a group of carpenters. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education. Monograph No. 5. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Murphy, C. (2004). How do children come to use a taught mental calculation strategy? Education Studies in Mathematics, 56, 3–18.
Naresh, N. (2008). Workplace Mathematics of Bus Conductors in Chennai, India. (Doctoral dissertation). Illinois State University. Available online at http://gradworks.umi.com/3353093.pdf
Noss, R., Hoyles, C. & Pozzi, S. (2000). Working knowledge: Mathematics in use. In A. Bessot & J. Ridgway (Eds.), Education for mathematics in the workplace (pp. 17–36). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Pozzi, S., Noss, R. & Hoyles, C. (1998). Tools in practice, mathematics in use. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 36, 105–122.
Reys, B. J. & Barger, R. H. (1994). Mental computation: Issues from the United States perspective. In R. E. Reys & N. Nohda (Eds.), Computational alternatives for the twenty-first century (pp. 31–47). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Reys, R. E., Reys, B. J., Rybolt, J. F. & Wyatt, J. W. (1982). Processes used by good computational estimators. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 13, 183–201.
Saxe, G. (1991). Culture and cognitive development: Studies in mathematical understanding. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Selin, H. (Ed.). (2000). Mathematics across cultures: The history of non-Western mathematics. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Shimizu, K. & Ishida, J. (1994). The cognitive processes and use of strategies of good Japanese estimators. In R. E. Reys & N. Nohda (Eds.), Computational alternatives for the twenty-first century (pp. 161–178). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Silver, E. A. (1994). Treating estimation and mental computation as situated mathematical processes. In R. E. Reys & N. Nohda (Eds.), Computational alternatives for the twenty-first century (pp. 147–161). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Stake, R. E. (2000). Case Studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research (2nd ed., pp. 134–164). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Vergnaud, G. (2000). Introduction. In A. Bessot & J. Ridgway (Eds.), Education for mathematics in the workplace (pp. xvii-xxiv). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Vithal, R. & Skovsmose, O. (1997). The end of innocence: A critique of “ethnomathematics.”. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 34, 134–157.
Zevenbergen, R. (2000). Research methods for mathematics at work. In A. Bessot & J. Ridgway (Eds.), Education for mathematics in the workplace (pp. 181–188). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Naresh, N. A STONE OR A SCULPTURE? IT IS ALL IN YOUR PERCEPTION. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 13, 1567–1588 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-014-9549-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-014-9549-6