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Aboriginal Perspectives and/in Mathematics: A Case Study of Three Grade 6 Teachers
No full textAbstractThe marriage of Aboriginal perspectives and mathematics is complex and comes with multiple interpretations. Through the research presented in this paper, we propose that one possibility for a lasting relationship between Aboriginal perspectives and mathematics lies in understanding more about teachers\u27 experiences and stories from their own mathematics classrooms, with their own students. The purpose of this paper, and of the research project informing this paper, is to understand how Grade 6 teachers in one particular Canadian province (Saskatchewan) are addressing Aboriginal-focused curriculum goals/outcomes and to listen to teachers\u27 perspectives on teaching mathematics with a distinctly Aboriginal focus. Data collection consisted of focus group discussions, individual interviews, and classroom observations with three case study teachers (Chris, Joe, and Lindsay). In this paper, we present three brief vignettes constructed out of the data, which provide a glimpse into the uniqueness of each teacher, each classroom, and each interpretation of what it means to teach mathematics through a distinctly Aboriginal focus. Keywords: Aboriginal education; mathematics curriculum; qualitative research; case study; Grade 6 teacher
Not Just for Boys: Good Pedagogy is Good for All
No full textThis conceptual paper examines the education of boys through the filter of pedagogy and goodness. In this paper, I posit a distinction between instructional strategies (the toolkit of practical activities and strategies used to support children’s learning) and pedagogy (the relational and practical response to the needs of children in the lived moments of teaching). Through a discussion of the role model hypothesis, which posits that like-gender teachers are good for like-gender students, I argue that it is not only a teacher’s gender but also a teacher\u27s non-gendered human qualities such as fairness and kindness that are most relevant to students’ learning. This paper concludes with discussion on strength and masculinity as being multi-dimensional constructs, and considers the notion of good pedagogy, which endeavours to place a multiplicity of all boys’ and all girls’ ways of being at the centre of practical and pedagogical thinking in order that they may flourish fully at school and in learning.Keywords: gender; education of boys; pedagogy; goodness; role mode
Editorial
No full textCASIE Guest Editors: Rainey Gaywish and Frank Deer, University of Manitoba; Mark Aquash, Univeristy of British Columbia; Sherry Peden, University College of the North; Dwayne Donald, University of Albert
Incorporating Culture in the Curriculum: The Concept of Probability in Nunavik Inuit Culture
No full textTraditionally, Canadian Inuit have lived in the circumpolar regions of Canada and those who still live in these regions, have their own cultures, which they tend to celebrate in their educational curricula. Inuit culture reflects their traditional lifestyle, when they were nomadic, and hunted and fished to survive in incredibly difficult conditions. These cultural differences present many challenges and issues to some mathematical concepts; for instance, for Nunavik Inuit, the concept of probability has no formal definition and it does not take the same meaning as in conventional mathematics. This misalignment could cause negative effects on students’ learning. Looking to bridge the gap between those two different cultural meanings, the principal investigator, Annie Savard, with the assistance of Inuit educators designed learning situations based on the traditional Inuit culture. We used an ethnomathematical model (Savard, 2008b) to frame the learning situations created. In this article, we present the learning situations created that aimed to bridge Nunavik Inuit culture and the development of probabilistic reasoning and we discuss how these learning situations supported students’ mathematical understanding and cultural identity.Keywords: Nunavik Inuit traditional culture; probability; learning situationethnomathematical mode
Seeking the Elusive Fit: What Do Educational Leaders Look for When Hiring New Teachers for First Nations Schools?
No full textThis article reports on the preliminary findings of a qualitative research study that explored the perceptions of five directors of education in Manitoba’s First Nations’ educational authorities as they assess prospective teachers for fit for both their schools and their local communities. The findings of this study illustrate that in order to meet the challenges of teaching effectively in First Nations’ schools, those responsible for hiring teachers want to find candidates who (a) contribute to the establishment of a new culture of teaching in the schools, (b) form respectful relationships with students and other members of the particular First Nation community, (c) possess a worldview that is commensurate with those held by First Nations peoples, and (d) are competent to teach academic subjects and also support students’ development as Indigenous youth. I conclude with recommendations that can support the preparation of a greater number of prospective teachers capable of teaching effectively in First Nation schools. Keywords: First Nations education; Teacher recruitment and selection; educational leadershi
The Institutional and Community Capacity for Aboriginal Education: A Case Study
No full textO’owe zagakibii’igewin da-ozhibii’igaade bezhig noomaya’ii gii-maajichigaade Anishinaabewi dago mooniyaawi-gikina’amaagewin omaa Kaanada akiing. Ogikina’amaageg gaa-wiiji’iwewaad omaa izhichigewining gii-anishinaabewiwag, gii-waabishkiiwewag gaye. Gichi-anishinaabeg gaye ningoding gii-aabadiziwag. Aaniin ji-izhi-minosegiban, awe gaa-niigaanishkang ogii-gaganoonaa’ bebakaan awiya’ gaa-gikina’amaageng zhigwa gii-ayizhaa bekish wii-zagakibii’iged. Iwe zagakibii’igewin izhisin, eniwek gii-gwaawaanjichigewag gegoo dazhiikigaadeg, wiiji’iweg ayaawaad dago awiyag gechiwaag imaa eyaawaad. Endasing ono gwaawaanjichigewinan, gegoo zenagakin zhigwa gegoon ge-wiiji’iwesegin, gikenjigaade zhigwa aaniin ezhi-gichi-inendaagwak Anishinaabewi-gikina’amaagewin aaniin gaye ezhi-zanagak oodenaang ji-dazhi-gikina’amaageng This study explored the institutional and community capacity for Aboriginal education in one urban school district in Canada that recently established a formal Aboriginal education programme. Participants in this study were Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal education professionals, as well as Aboriginal Elders directly and indirectly affiliated with the study school district. Using a qualitative approach, I conducted interviews with participants and observed in-school activities in an effort to acquire data. I found that the physical, political, human resource, and community capacities were, in varying degrees, sufficiently developed to provide Aboriginal education programming. Within each of these capacities, challenges and perceived opportunities have led to an acknowledgement of the importance of Aboriginal education as well as an appreciation of the difficulties of offering such programming in an urban educational environment
You Don’t Know Me: Adolescent Identity Development Through Poetry Performance
No full textOur study concerns adolescents using poetry writing as an interrogative and creative means of shaping and creating “voices” or “identities.” Toronto-based high school students were challenged to be creators (rather than solely consumers) of available social practices within a digital landscape using mobile devices and social networking platforms. The students engaged in the processes of creating poetry that included experimentation with form (including spoken word, found, and rhyming couplet poetry), research, and writing-induced challenges of received ideas. Their creations of their multiple “Resonant Voices,” which in some cases were powerful statements of self-discovery and social criticism, were further amplified because they occurred in a formal educational setting.Keywords: adolescents; identity; digital literacies; multiliteracies; poetry; social practices; social networking sites; Facebook; pedagogy; mobile devices; Android app; poetic inquiry; metacognitiv
Poetic Inquiry as Visiting: Stories of Men
No full textThis article is a reflection on how stories can come to inhabit a place in a pedagogical way, as Keith Basso notes, “wisdom sits in places” (1996). In this story, I write about my experiences teaching a college preparation English and math class in rural British Columbia. In the short story entitled Stories of Men, I describe the act of witnessing the stories of suffering and hope of men who grew up attending local residential schools, alongside the stories of their sons’ coming of age in the contemporary school system. Keywords: poetic inquiry; narrative inquiry; storytelling; place-based pedagog
Poetic Inquiry and Its Lyrical Potential for Research
No full textIncluding both discursive and lyrical inquiry as complementary sides of research and education, educational poetics is a way of re-imagining education that creates greater critical awareness of and ethical responsibility for our learning processes and inspires learners to employ their human potential for imagination and critical thinking to revise and remake "common sense."Keywords: education; educational poetics; pedagogy; poetic inquiry; the lyrica
The Radiance of the Small
No full textThe challenge and conundrum are to integrate within ourselves the dark/light cycles of the natural world, yet flourish in times of grief and pain. But how does one lose and be grateful? How does one create harmony between body and soul? Here we explore the lessons of a snail wedded to the earth, astute in its slowness, in its minute shadow; we listen for the small-throated life; we adopt the unapologetic, razor eyes of the raven. Questions lived and explored evoke shadow-answers and other questions. What lessons can be culled in the light of healing? What can we learn by entering moments closely? The suddenness of a death can bring us back to the radiance of the small: to see by means of black and to be at home in suffering. Keywords: radiance; suffering; alchemy; mystery; descent; paradox; blac