I did really well in math in school, it was actually one of my favourite subjects. There wasn’t memorization of terms, after terms, after terms, (these terms were more often than not quickly forgotten after an exam), everything just made sense and there was not spelling involved which for me was a bonus. I think I was lucky in the fact that my math teachers were also creative and we were free to use creativity when solving problems, it did not have to be the exact way the teacher would do it. We did it how we understood it. I loved everything about mathematics until I hit grade eleven. My teacher was nice and all, but he only had one way of doing things and suddenly math was not making sense anymore. My favourite subject was now my biggest struggle and I began to hate the subject. Luckily I had a good professor that was creative like the first teachers I had and I fell in love with math again, but the fact that one class and one teacher could change my perspective so drastically was terrifying. It showed me how important it is to involve creativity in all subject areas and to always keep in mind different ways of learning and knowing.

After watching Gale Russell’s lecture, I fell even more in love with mathematics. She challenges western ideas of mathematics and I love it. She states many times during her lecture, that everyone can do math, and it is so true. Math is within every subject area and everywhere in our daily lives. Whether we believe it or not we are all capable in mathematics.

In the article Teaching Mathematics and the Inuit Community, it states, “Knowledge is the condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association” (Poirier, 2007). When looking at knowledge from an association point of view, it gives knowledge purpose and relevance in one’s life, rather than just information that needs to be memorized. Mathematics seems to be the one subject that many forget to connect with our lives and the everyday context in which we use math. When math isn’t thought of as relevant to our daily lives and experiences we begin to unlearn the things we naturally understand.

The most important thing we need to remember and to pass on to our students is that as Russell states many times is that we are all mathematical beings, we are all capable in this subject area. We need to stop “unteaching” our students and guide them in a way that is relevant to their lives and expands on what they already know, rather than separating math from all other subjects.

Bear, L. L. (2000). Jagged worldviews colliding. In M. Batiste (Ed.), Reclaiming Indigenous voice and vision (pp. 77-85). UBC Press.

Poirier, L. (2007). Teaching mathematics and the Inuit community, Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 7(1), p. 53-67.

Russell, G. (2020). Curriculum as Numeracy: Gale Russell’s Guest Lecture for ECS210. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzQmEvbJSZQ&feature=youtu.be