- Part 1 (Numeracy): Using Gale’s lecture, Poirier’s article, and Bear’s article, identify at least three ways in which Inuit mathematics challenge Eurocentric ideas about the purpose of mathematics and the way we learn it.
Throughout Gale Russell’s lecture Curriculum as Numeracy, the main message she conveyed to me is that “we are all mathematical beings, but we all do mathematics in our own way”. Meaning that we all can do math, it is not an in inherited gene some of us acquire that gives us the ability to learn and do mathematics, but it is the Eurocentric ideas about mathematics that cause the black and white thinking that makes us believe we either get it, or we just don’t, and never will. Russell also states that Eurocentric Mathematical views are based on not caring about what you know, “it’s whether or not you can reproduce that linear singular static objective rational knowledge”. Similarly, in Leroy Little Bears Paper Colliding world views, he states the Western worldview system has only one real answer and only one way of getting to that answer. This is what makes Inuit Mathematics so important as it challenges those traditional beliefs by bringing in an Indigenous world view on how we learn and teach Mathematics. A western worldview believes you seek knowledge for the purposes of seeking knowledge to become the best the smartest. As Russell explains, with an Indigenous worldview, knowledge is for the good of all, you seek it to give back. As both Little Bear and Russels points out in their articles, children in Indigenous communities are taught by Elders and family members who have no specific or formal training with mathematics, this challenges the Eurocentric ideas about only being taught by teachers and “experts”. In Poirier’s article, we learn that Inuit people measure things by using their body parts as the tools in comparison to our Eurocentric mathematical ways of a linear system using logical rational order. Russels also explains how in the Nunuvut community, Indigenous people use their body parts to measure and create igloos. How can our hands be used as tools in measuring and creating Igloos? Indigenous people do math in Base 20 which when you think about it makes sense. As Russell states, “unlike our mathematical ways that isolate, in Nunavut they use it in context.
- Part 2 (Literacy): Which “single stories” were present in your own schooling? Whose truth mattered? What biases and lenses do you bring to the classroom? How might we unlearn / work against these biases?
To be honest I don’t quite recall any “single” stories I had during my educational experience. I feel I was the student that had the “single” stories and never quite fit in to the mainstream ways of learning and being a student. Which is probably one of the reasons I have waited so long to take this education adventure lol. I often challenged my teachers and peers when their views did not come across as kind and what would have been considered biased back then. I feel coming from this background and having this lens I have allows me to be more loving and kinder and understanding to the “proverbial” underdogs in my classroom. It gives me a more open lens and understanding about all of us coming from different walks of life but that does not define us as a person.
As I wrap up this final blog post I am taken back to the first one I made where I read about the “common sense” notions in our society. If I want to be that teacher who positively touches each one of my students, it is important I understand what incomplete single stories they know and have been told so I can help them learn to dig deep to discover the full story the one with many different sides and truths. As I teach my students, It is essential I keep my lenses open so I can learn from them so we can all grow and become kinder, empathetic caring individuals who will make positive changes this world so desperately needs.
Works Cited:
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, Gale (n.d) Curriculum on Numeracy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzQmEvbJSZQ
Hi Robin. Our blogs have some things in common, mainly the first part when pointing out the issues and how Inuit people challenge the “only one right way” and how Inuit peoples measure with their hands and body parts. As well as how Indigenous peoples are taught by family and not just teachers. It is interesting to see how we both responded similarly to the first question.
Your personal experience is very interesting; I enjoyed reading about how you challenge teachers and peers. I did the same thing when I was in high school. I also liked the part when you talked bout how the lens is more open to you and how to create a more understanding environment for all people with different stories and backgrounds. I completely agree that experiences and different stories do “not define us as a person” because we are all constantly changing and learning.
I also enjoyed reading your comment about the common sense in a single story. Like Chimamanda Adichie said in her video, the stories she wrote when she was younger had British people in them and talked about the weather and tea, and that did not relate to her life. But, it was common sense to her that people in stories talk and act a certain way. It was only when she read different books that were not British that she saw that there was more than a single story. Common sense in schools and in books can create a single story that is oppressive and needs to be challenged. And like you said to keep single stories from happening, we need to keep our lenses open.
Thanks for sharing; I enjoyed reading your post.