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In Canada, Aboriginal post-secondary enrolment and completion rates are significantly lower than those of non-Aboriginals. This is most evident in disciplines involving science and mathematics. Moreover, Aboriginal student achievement in Kindergarten–Grade 12 mathematics courses is significantly lower than those of non-Aboriginal students.
In the contemporary Canadian context of low Aboriginal participation and completion rates in post-secondary studies of mathematics, it is important to provide Aboriginal students with experiences of mathematics that foster their interest and ability in the early stages of their schooling.
This paper is a preliminary exploration into one student's experiences of learning mathematics from place. Two research questions are investigated: (1) What are one student's previous experiences of learning mathematics? (2) What are one student's experiences of learning Indigenous, Western, and personal mathematics from place?
The data for this paper is based on work with 12 Grade 9 students from a First Nations school located in Southern Alberta and situated within a Canadian Aboriginal context. All Grade 9 students at the school (fourteen in total) were invited to participate in the study in two ways: (1) by volunteering to be part of an initial focus group that explored the first research question, and (2) by allowing the researchers to collect artifacts of their learning (e.g. classroom work, mathematics problems, photographs generated for the project, written responses, assignments). Six students volunteered to be part of the focus group. In addition to these participants, we also received consent from six students to allow us to photocopy and digitally scan their student work on classroom assignments.
The results suggest that learning from place can be used to intertwine Indigenous, Western, and personal mathematics.
Dallas' Western mathematical learning was robust as he exceeded the outcomes prescribed in the provincial curriculum. This was especially evident in his work with similar triangles.
When working with natural objects in the environment, Dallas mentally rotated and reflected them and tended to draw the triangles so that the height was vertical and the base was horizontal out to the right. This was different from how he was viewing the actual object.
Spatial reasoning is an essential part of Western mathematics. This involves visualization and mental imagery and enables students to interpret their environment through two- and three-dimensional representations. Clearly, Dallas was able to demonstrate spatial reasoning through these assignments.
Dallas also related to the land through Western mathematics. By overlaying a Cartesian grid and using technology to map the land, he gained an understanding of one way to describe the location of the Big Rock.
We hope the results of this study will inform future investigations into the impact of learning mathematics from place on larger groups of students and how it fosters their academic interests and abilities in mathematics.
What holds promise for us is the potential for viewing Western and Indigenous mathematics as having complementary strengths. Recognizing the strengths of each type of mathematics could maximize mathematical learning.
To date, very little has been done to intertwine these knowledge systems and the reciprocity of cultural strengths in Indigenous and Western mathematics is not fully understood. This paper has attempted to initiate and engage in that dialogue.