Mathematics: Involved vs Unaware

Mathematics is treated as having one correct method or way to do things and does not typically promote new methods. Whereas other subjects provide opportunity to be influenced by culture and worldviews, math is not taught in a way that provides the same clear and open opportunities. This is not a fault of mathematics itself but of the way it is taught and understood. “Inuit children develop spatial representations that are different from those of children who live in a city like Montreal.” Inuit children are taught in a more nature involved way that is meant to teach them life lessons for both living and surviving their environment. The teaching methods used by most teachers in the North (paper-and-pencil exercises) are not based on the ‘natural’ ways of learning of Inuit children. Instead they are an adaptation to their teaching influenced by Eurocentric methods of learning that are typically far less involved with the natural world in stark contrast to traditional methods. “Furthermore, Inuit teachers tell me that, traditionally, they do not ask a student a question for which they think that student does not have the answer.” Here Poirier learns why the systems of educating students are so different, they have opposite intentions behind what is really being taught. Where the typical ‘Western’ method is to ask questions or pose problems that task students with constantly learning new things and introductions of new concepts, the Inuit method is based around asking the student to think and reference what they already know and have learned. We rely on written tests and reading with a constant inflow while they have an oral method of learning and because of this their relative natured number system is linked with their ways of life and understanding, continually prompting and reinforcing lessons valuable to their survival in the North. “Precision in language brought the Inuit to develop several forms for each number to mark the context in which it is used.” This is seen with their understanding of ‘many’ twos or threes to be two-twos(4) and two-threes(6) respectively, just as their numerical system counts by multiplying 20 to reach higher values. Where the Eurocentric teaching model uses the 10 digits 0-9 as independent unique values and are multiplied by their placement on the decimal system; the Inuit peoples use spatial understanding and connected relations to other numbers (7 = not many fours, 8= many fours, 9 = not quite ten), these numbers communicate relational knowledge according to space around them rather than as a tool for holding written values or for calculations. Inuit teachings are constantly reinforcing the learners spatial awareness and applying that knowledge to natural living and day-to-day life. “The Inuit have developed an outstanding sense of space to help orient themselves. They have learned to ‘read’ snow banks and assess the direction of winds.” They are skilled at reading the natural signs in the environment and even use inukshuk to help guide and communicate: providing further visibility due to its height and that someone was there. These same structures are further applied as resourceful hiding spots from winds and for hunting caribou. Where we are stuck in the Eurocentric mindset of numerology being a value based system of calculation, the Inuit peoples use it as another tool of living that keeps them involved and connected to the world, people, plants, and animals living and breathing around them. This provides them a superior spatial knowledge understanding and challenges the idea that our own methods of learning are ‘superior’ instead questioning whether our own methods are flawed or just improperly practiced.

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