Diversity is ingrained in throughout society and especially in school, but it’s not always recognized in a similar aspect. Diversity is often seen as a visual indicator but is also shown through our process of doing certain tasks. In Leroy Little Bear’s article, he speaks on colonialism’s influence on a single view and oppresses the opportunity of diverse thoughts. This is extremely applicable when it comes to viewpoints or procedures that can be done in separate ways retaining the same result, however the colonial way is often referred to as the “right” way even though the end result is the same. In mathematics, I have been fortunate enough to never have encountered a problem myself with teachers in this way, however I have had a friend who was rather intelligent but solved his problems in his own way. He would almost always get the correct answer, but his method of getting their was unorthodox. He was difficult to learn from because if you couldn’t understand the way he did it, he was really uncertain on how to help.
This is displayed perfectly by both Poirier and Gale in the content we covered. Gale explains how the Inuit system uses their own numeracy system by base 20 instead of the traditional base 10 system that many of us learn throughout our academic careers. Another example of difference that both presenters highlight is that each number can have multiple names depending on the context that the number itself is being used. The most surprising to me was the difference in measurement of time brought forward by Poirier about the measuring of time in months according to the Inuit people. They do not have a standardized calendar with set dates for each month, but measure the months by the activities associated with it. For example he uses the month of september relating to the length the Caribou take to shed their coats. These ideas aren’t seen as “normal” to our colonized eyes which can cause us to see it as wrong therefore giving a sense of discrimination towards the individuals using this system. This is why diversity is more than just visual indicators and must be taken as so when looking into our daily lives.