Culture, Worldview and Transformative Philosophy of Mathematics Teacher Education in Nepal: A Cultural-Philosophical Inquiry Bal Chandra Luitel

Framing my research Who? What? How? Why?

Who? A teacher educator from Nepal Works in a newly established university Have been involved in designing mathematics teacher education programs Has written and published about 6 papers on the basis of Masters degree project These papers talk mostly about the contextualisation of mathematics education in Nepal

Who? Has taught some 2/3 years in schools and then educating teachers since the middle of 1998 Am involved in an ethnomathematics project funded by UNESCO Co-supervised one MPhil dissertation entitled My Journey of Learning and Teaching Mathematics from Traditionalism to Constructivism: A Portrayal of Pedagogic Metamorphosis Supervised about 20 action research projects of local teachers… Conducted about 12 workshops on mathematics teaching Conducted about 5 workshops on qualitative research

Who? A professional teacher educator grappling to make sense of his professional contexts.. Have interests in philosophical discourses of East (and West) Have some ideas about Sanskrit literature and language Have some awareness of Madhyamika—Middle Path, Advaita Vedanta—Nondual Vendanta

What? I intend to review the existing philosophies that have guided mathematics teacher education programs in Nepal. My aim is to reflect on my lived reality, associated documents and field experiences that I propose to undertake. I wish to explore the similarities and contradistinctions between the Nepali cosmology and the Western Mathematical Worldview. In so doing, I shall explore more of the epistemological and ontological nature of Western Mathematical and Nepali Worldviews. I plan to develop an alternative philosophy of mathematics teacher education that helps me in designing and implementing teacher education programs as well as acting within its context.

What? 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? What are alternative ways of knowing mathematics in my cultural context? How can mathematical knowledge for teacher education in Nepal be made holistic, ecologically balanced and discursive? What can a transformative philosophy of mathematics teacher education be for Nepal?

How? Research Method: qualitative, interpretive Auto/ethnographic inquiry: looking for an holistic understanding of the world of inquiry Writing as inquiry Philosophy as discourse and action: Focusing on the ‘Why’ question… Emergent, diachronic and ‘no-method’ approach

How? Referents Dialectical thinking Post/critical philosophy Non/dualism Ecological holism Radical and critical constructivism Geometry theory model Social constructivism Ethnomathematics …

How? Quality Standards Triple Crisis: crises of representation, legitimacy and praxis Other standards (based on my referents) ‘No-standards’: Developing thru the process of inquiry

How ? Referents Rigour Criteria Radical Constructivism Cultural viability/verisimilitude of texts Multiplicity of my experience Critical constructivism Emancipatory dimension of my texts Self-reflexivity Post/criticalism Emancipation Making person and culture visible in the texts Clarity of researcher’s beliefs, assumptions Non/dual, Integral Philosophy, Dialectical Thinking, Holistic understanding Developing Wisdom Writing-as-inquiry Substantive contribution Aesthetic Merit and verisimilitude Reflexivity Impact on potential readers

Why? My ‘inquiry self’ and ‘professional self’ The major significance of this type of inquiry is: ‘to make sense of what we were doing both as living our stories in the ongoing experiential text and as telling our stories in words we reflected on life and explained ourselves to others (Clandinin, 1993, p.1).

Why? My inquiry and other Nepali teacher educators other teacher educators can start envisioning similar agenda for their field of inquiry. my inquiry can encourage them to look into their own cultural capital in order make mathematics teacher education meaningful, inclusive and justifiable. my research can generate praxis, pedagogical thoughtfulness and wakefulness, through my inquiry ‘product’ and texts.

Why? Contribution to the field of Mathematics Education I do not believe that my philosophy will be the philosophy; instead I intend it to be a philosophy developed in a particular cross-section of space, time and self. I am hoping that my inquiry will be able to excavate further the cultural nature of mathematics, but certainly to/for Nepali contexts. My inquiry and other researchers (Data)texts ‘are always open to diverse interpretations’ (Kincheloe, 2003, p. 198) in my research Research approach in relation to different referents