In my experiences in primary and secondary schooling, I do not recall much of what was being taught during the time relating to math. I personally have always struggled in math, therefore my levels of engagement and productivity were often quite low. One thing that I have learned at the university level is that many cultures have different numerical systems. I have been able to connect that to traditional Western standards that operate within a base 10 number system as much of North America uses base ten numbers universally and assumes the rest of the world does too, this is certainly not the case. I have not been fortunate enough to do any teaching of mathematics myself at this point in my learning journey, but I know after taking some of the university math courses I have been able to see that not all cultures are represented in the mathematics curriculum.
The required reading for this week’s blog post contained some valuable information into the intricacies that lay within the different cultural understandings of mathematics. One of the interesting points that I noticed in the article was that in Inuit communities, math is often taught in multiple languages, proving to be a challenge and furthering the burden on students’ understanding and conceptualization of the content, (Poirier, 2007). Secondly, instead of hyper-focusing on numerical applications in math, Inuit people take and learn from their surroundings as tools for education. It can be observed that they use limbs and items as a form of tangible measurement instead of isolating this to rulers and number based answers (Poirier, 2007). Thirdly, I am quite amazed at how the number system is different, specifically that of the base 20 number system that operates within Inuit mathematics (Poirier, 2007). I do believe in the significance of this base 20 number system to this culture, considering its origins date long before colonization, as it challenges the base 10 and 12 that dominate in western educational curricula in urban learning environments.
Poirier, L. (2007). Teaching mathematics and the Inuit community, Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 7(1), p. 53-67.
Nice job relating your own experience in math to the readings from this week. When you mentioned your struggled with math it reminded me of the guest lecture this week.
You included the Poirier article and it would be good to see the Bear article included as well.
I like the interesting point you made about how Inuit math includes using limbs instead of rulers, etc.
I can relate to your experience in math for primary and secondary schooling, I struggled to understand so many formulas in math. I was one of those shy students that didn’t raise my hand if I didn’t understand a certain formula, and at times felt behind in my studies. I never thought of math being culturally bias or having its own base system of 10 for western culture, and there are different base systems and ways to integrate diversity within math – such as the Inuit culture. There is more than one way to do math.