School Mathematics in Colonial India Analyzing an Arithmetic Textbook from the Late Nineteenth Century

Abstract

This article analyzes a popular arithmetic textbook, Arithmetic: For the Use of Schools and Colleges, authored by Jadav Chandra Chakravarti, to examine the contents and pedagogies in the text for how mathematics was taught and learned from the end of the nineteenth century through the first half of the twentieth century in colonial India. The study findings provide us with a glimpse of the teaching and learning of mathematics in colonial India and help us to better understand current school mathematics and its curriculum evolution and development in the subcontinent. Even though Chakravarti’s textbook is mainly based on rule-method pedagogy, it has simple descriptions of rules and procedures, and a gradual progression from simple to complex in exercises and topics, which was unique at the time. The textbook maintains coherence in its style and presentation of the contents, and engages students and teachers by reflecting social life and cultural traditions in colonial India, which perhaps contributes to a long period of popularity of this book in the Indian subcontinent. The textbook has its legacy in modern education in the Indian subcontinent. Still, in the subcontinent, textbooks are one of the main sources of mathematics teaching and learning, as well as test preparation for high-stakes exams.