The concision and precision of the language of mathematics should not lead to ambiguity but in the classroom, it can happen as Arddhendu Dash discovered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because of the lockdown, the school that he is a part of (Azim Premji School, Dhamtari, Chhattisgarh), reached out to students using different modes such as sharing hard copies of reading materials, telephonic conference calls with groups of students and even video conferences. 

However, since the majority of the students did not have facilities such as smartphones and internet connectivity, they engaged with them mainly through the first two methods. Using these methods, he continued his mathematics classes with students of classes VI, VII and VIII.

He speaks about the ambiguities he faced while teaching the students. What lessons can we learn from this? 

Hridaykant Dewan talks to Arddhendu on his experience and brings in perspectives on language from Nisha Butoliya.

The discussion is in English and Hindi.

Article: Verbal Communication in a Mathematics Classroom

Read the article 

• in English https://​bit​.ly/​3​E​3bFqj
• in Hindi https://​bit​.ly/​3​u​wwt6L

Arddhendu Shekhar Dash is the principal of Azim Premji School, Dhamtari. Earlier, he was a Resource Person at Azim Premji Foundation. He has an MSc in mathematics from Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar. 

He has been closely working with teachers on issues related to Mathematics and conducts workshops focusing on conceptual understanding as well as pedagogical strategies used in teaching mathematics. 

He has been doing mathematics with children for more than 8 years and is deeply interested in exploring and designing tech resources. He is also engaged in the process of designing curriculum for Open Distance Learning and writing textbooks for Chhattisgarh. 

He may be contacted at arddhendu@​azimpremjifoundation.​org

Hridaykant Dewan leads the Translations Initiative team at Azim Premji University. He is also a part of the editorial team of our publications (At Right Angles, Learning Curve, etc.)

He may be contacted at hardy@​azimpremjifoundation.​org

Nisha Butoliya has worked with varied professionals in the field of education. In the due course of her engagement as a teacher educator, she has developed curricular material for teacher education, conceptualised, coordinated and facilitated many workshops for the various educational functionaries. 

She has also developed certificate courses related to aspects of education perspectives, language and literacy.

She may be contacted at nisha@​azimpremjifoundation.​org