Inquiry Topic

 

Amrit and I wish to explore Indigenous practices in relation to math and the effect that it has on students' social-emotional learning as well as academic understanding and performance. I personally connect to the topic of Indigenizing my classroom because I'm from a town where approximately 40% (or more, if you count surrounding villages) of the population is Indigenous. We grew up learning pieces of Indigenous culture and history in school or community events and I learned a little more while working in our local museum as a summer student for a few years; however, I hadn't encountered the applications and connections of Indigenous practices with math until I entered this program. I would especially like to learn more on the subject, not only to aid in fulfilling the "Incorporate First Peoples worldviews, perspectives, knowledge, and practices to make connections with mathematical concepts" requirement of the BC math curriculum, but also because I will be returning to my hometown or surrounding villages to teach. Therefore, incorporating Indigenous perspectives of math would double as a way to bring representation of many of my future students' own culture into the classroom as well as respecting and honouring  Indigenous ways of knowing.