Post #12 – Reflecting on Articles by Leroy Little Bear and Poirier

Part 1: At the beginning of the reading, Leroy Little Bear (2000) states that colonialism “tries to maintain a singular social order by means of force and law, suppressing the diversity of human worldviews. … Typically, this proposition creates oppression and discrimination” (p. 77). Think back on your experiences of the teaching and learning of mathematics — were there aspects of it that were oppressive and/or discriminating for you or other students?

I always did well in math. I enjoyed it, I caught on to ideas fast and completed my work quickly and correctly. Thinking back, my experiences in elementary school were quite discriminatory to many of the kids. I remember doing these multiplication worksheets where we were expected to answer 100 questions in 1 or 2 minutes correctly. We were made to feel stupid if we didn’t do all or almost all the questions. So the students who were not as fast at math were put down. My teachers were not very inclusive in teaching math. They taught it one way and expected all of us to understand that way because they liked it better. Once I got to grades 11 and 12, my math started to try to be more understanding and inclusive. She was not very good at it, but she made an effort. She tried different teaching methods, like having a bunch of practice questions on the board, and we stood up and moved around to complete them. She had seen some research from students benefiting from standings and moving around while learning. She started videoing all her lessons using a document camera-type thing so that if anyone was confused or needed help while studying or doing homework, they could watch the videos on youtube. These small things really helped lots of my classmates. However, anyone who was not as good at math was made to feel dumb and not as important as those who were good at math. The environment created surrounding math was not ideal.

Part 2: After reading Poirier’s article: Teaching Mathematics and the Inuit Community, identify at least three ways in which Inuit mathematics challenges Eurocentric ideas about the purposes of mathematics and the way we learn it.

Inuit math and Eurocentric math seem very different in terms of their purpose and how it is learnt. The first thing, Inuit mathematics is very oral-based and involves talking out loud. Eurocentric Mathematics involves writing everything down and emphasizes students showing every step and all their work on their paper. Inuit Mathematics uses a base 20 system to count versus the Eurocentric base 10 system. And finally, the Inuit Mathematics calendar vastly differs from the Eurocentric calendar. The Inuit calendar is not set in stone every year like the Eurocentric calendar. It is based on natural events that occur throughout the year, whereas the Eurocentric calendar is the same every year, no matter the natural events and when they happen.