Shared ownership and community capacity building

2013

For some Indigenous students, school mathematics and science can be a "fish out of water" experience. Our initial research asked the questions how can science and mathematics education become more meaningful for Indigenous students and how can Indigenous learners use the cognitive tools of their cultural community to engage with school mathematics and science? We then looked towards our own practice as teacher educators to investigate another question: how can pre-service teachers explore how Indigenous cultural knowledge can be used more productively in mathematics and science classrooms? In this paper we present an account of our present understanding of capacity building practises, which are those pedagogies that draw on Indigenous students' cultural resources: cultural disposition, community knowledge and cultural capital. A key purpose of the presentation is to emphasise the socially negotiated, cultural and embedded nature of meaning-making in mathematics and science education and how this can be made more apparent in pre-service teacher education.

Intercultural Education, 2016

Drawing on studies of successful remote schools in one region of Australia, it was found that two key strategies were common in the approaches at these schools. First, to make the strategies and expectations being adopted explicit to all those involved in the learning enterprise, and second, that consistency in approaches was crucial. Bourdieu's theoretical project is used to understand how the practices are being adopted by the schools and how they contribute to the success of learners of mathematics. Large-scale testing of students is commonplace in many countries. What is unsurprising is that for many students whose culture is not that of the dominant groups, their success on such tests is often limited. This is particularly the case for Indigenous or First Nation People and is certainly the case for Australia's First People (Ford 2012), and as Klenowski (2009) argued, whether such tests fairly assess the funds of knowledge that Indigenous students bring to school. Compounding their success are issues of geographical isolation and poverty. Similarly, the values inherent in the curriculum, and the systems in which schools operate produce practices that work towards the marginalisation of many First People. Meaney (2002) has argued that the backgrounds of Indigenous students are often in conflict with the values represented in school mathematics. Such conflicts are most notable in remote and very remote areas (Osborne 2013) where the culture of the students is very different from the values represented in and through school mathematics. Many students living in remote areas practice much of their traditional culture, language/s and knowledge. In some remote areas, families are third generation white contact, making for vast differences in the worldviews between communities and school. Too frequently, the lack of success is framed within deficit models of thinking rather than as diversity in cultural norms. This paper draws on responses of school staff that have been able to turn the tide on (school) mathematical learning and have produced successful outcomes for First People learners. Drawing on contexts of remote schools with predominantly First People (Aboriginal) learners, the strategies adopted by staff in these schools are explored. As the study aimed to document the mathematics education practices within schools that were seen to be successful, the study focused on the responses from adults-teachers,

International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 2000

After the invasion and occupation of their land by Europeans, Indigenous Australians were expected to bene® t from a Western education system based on that of the dominant Europeans. Gradually educators realized that Aboriginal children learn diå erently and that Indigenous culture and pedagogy has validity and strength. Of course, educators also need to be acutely aware of the diversity of Indigenous cultures in Australia and that there is not a monolithic sense of Aboriginal identity or Aboriginal pedagogy. Dispossession and alienation, poor health and few employment opportunities must also aå ect educational interest, attendance, application and performance. In this paper the characteristics of Indigenous learners are examined and pedagogical strategies to assist in both students' learning and teachers' delivery are explored. The message conveyed in this paper has particular relevance for teaching mathematics to Aboriginal learners. It is also of considerable value in teaching mathematics to non-Aboriginal students, in Australia and elsewhere.

International Group For the Psychology of Mathematics Education, 2005

Two key stakeholders in enhancing and building Aboriginal children's capacity to learn mathematics are teachers and the Aboriginal children themselves. In Australian schools it is often the case that the two groups come from different cultural backgrounds with very differing life experiences. This paper reports on an ethnographic study and focuses on the beliefs of Aboriginal children and their teachers about learning mathematics. It suggests significant issues that teachers need to acknowledge in providing appropriate learning environments for Aboriginal children.

Mathematics education research: Innovation, …, 2003

This paper investigates tensions faced by indigenous parents in developing a mathematics curriculum. These included an uncertainty about their role in regard to their contribution and what they could gain from being involved. We suggest that a community, which exists because their children attend a school, needs to have opportunities for shared activities first. These can be used as starting points for curriculum discussions so that the tensions can be alleviated and the possibilities taken advantage of more fully.

2022

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Histories and Cultures is one of three cross-curriculum priorities claimed to be embedded within all key learning areas of the Australian Curriculum from Foundation to Year 10. This priority was established for all students to learn about the oldest continuing cultures on earth. The inclusion of cultural content with culturally responsive pedagogies, contributes to culturally responsive teaching and can increase the academic achievements for Indigenous students. However, the content descriptions in the Australian Curriculum Mathematics do not contain any cultural content and therefore, Indigenous students may not see their histories, cultures and identities reflected within mathematics. Coupled with this, there is concern that Indigenous students are not achieving their full potential in mathematics. Throughout this thesis, I argue that school mathematics is biased in eurowestern cultures and that the incorporation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ historical and cultural mathematics content may support Indigenous students in reaching their full potential. Interviews were conducted with six experienced Queensland State school teachers, with knowledge of cultural mathematics. Australian and state Indigenous education policies and teaching frameworks were drawn upon to identify opportunities, and explore how the current policy rhetoric met with practitioner realities. In this study, I explored how six teachers developed cultural competency to plan and implement Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Histories and Cultures in their mathematics teaching. Bernstein’s Theory of Pedagogic Discourse (2000) was used as a lens of analysis to understand teachers perspectives of communication, power and control in communication, content and pedagogy. Findings revealed limited evidence of teachers embedding this cross-curriculum priority within mathematics and that more professional development and cultural mathematics resources are needed to enact culturally responsive mathematics teaching.

Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, 2010

This study considered ways of improving mathematical outcomes for urban Indigenous students. It focused on three primary schools in Western Australia and identified factors that were perceived to be having an impact on student learning. These included expectations for students, attendance rates, parent involvement, student literacy levels, student engagement, and test literacy. Base-line data were gathered to identify mathematical needs -conceptual understanding, place value, calculating beyond finger counting, and an action plan for 2010-2012 was developed to address those needs and to counter factors that may have had an adverse impact on student learning. 48 0 2 School #2 W.A. Education Department 130 1 7 School #3 W.A. Education Department 50 370 17

Australian Journal of …, 2010

Abstract: The performance of Australian Indigenous learners is a national concern. The federal government has recognised that health and education are keys to closing the gap between the achievement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and has made health and ...

Educational Studies in Mathematics, 2013

Although refuted many times, the commonly accepted story about Indigenous communities in Australia is that they had few counting word and thus were lacking in ways to quantify amounts. In this paper, we use the case of quantifying to discuss how Indigenous mathematics can be used, not just to help Indigenous students transition into the classroom but also back into their home communities. We argue that mathematics education must take seriously its responsibility to support Indigenous students to gain school mathematics and also to help maintain the use of traditional mathematical ideas. If this does not occur, mathematics educators will contribute, intentionally or unintentionally to the loss of Indigenous knowledge that present and future generations of Indigenous people will hold them responsible for.

Mathematics Education Research Journal, 2013

Within mathematics education, research in indigenous contexts has changed dramatically over the past few decades with the emphasis shifting from researching on indigenous people to researching with indigenous people. Along with the changes in the way research is done in these contexts, there is significant growth in the number of research projects. This growth can be seen, for example, in the numbers of papers in this area in the conference proceedings of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA). This development was an important impetus for this Special Issue of the Mathematics Education Research Journal (MERJ) focused on indigenous people and their access to school mathematics. While there are diverse approaches and ideologies that underpin research projects in indigenous contexts, there are some common denominators that guide research. This Special Issue represents a collection of research projects in which the intent has been to work with indigenous people to enhance the mathematics learning for indigenous students. In our call for papers, we sought contributions with the following characteristics: & the research is with and/or by, rather than on, indigenous people, & authors do not approach their work through the exoticising of indigenous people, & the research projects attempt to push learning rather than rely on deficit models, and & the research pushes boundaries and challenges some of the existing orthodoxies that perpetuate differences in learning and outcomes. Our collaboration on this project grew from a long-standing involvement of the two editors in this area. Drawing on our work in the Southern and Northern

psychosozial, 2016

Educational Studies, 2019

This paper results from programming of Indigenous Logix: Mathematics|Culture|Environment (IndigiLogix). IndigiLogix’s intention is to increase Indigenous students’ love for mathematics as well as college access and success. Through IndigiLogix, it was transparent that the mathematics knowledge imparted to our Indigenous students derived from a western K-12 educational view. Thus, we found the need to conceptualize curriculum that centers on the fact that Indigenous Knowledge has Always Been Mathematics Education (IK-HABME). Through IK-HABME, we honor our relations with Elders, Community Partners, Indigenous youth, the natural world and real-life experiences, all while avoiding colonial constructs and measures of success.

SpringerPlus, 2014

Australian Indigenous students' mathematics performance continues to be below that of non-Indigenous students. This occurs from the early years of school, due largely to knowledge and social differences on entry to formal schooling. This paper reports on a mathematics research project conducted in one Aboriginal community school in New South Wales, Australia. The project aimed to identify and explain the ways that young Australian Indigenous students (age 2-4 years) learn number language and processes, specifically attribute language, sorting, 1-1 correspondence and, counting. The project adopted a mixed methods approach. That is, the methodology was decolonising (Smith 1999) in that it collaborated with and gave benefit back to the Indigenous community and school being researched. It was qualitative and interpretative (Burns 2000) and incorporated an action-research teaching-experiment approach where and teachers collaborated with the researchers to try new teaching methods. This paper draws on data pertaining to students' response to diagnostic interview questions, the pre-and post-test results of the interview and photographic evidence as observations during mathematics learning time. Participants referred to in this paper include one female principal (N = 1), and the transition class of students' pre-(N = 6) and post-test (N = 3) results of the pre-foundational processes (also referred to as attributes). The results were encouraging with improvements in colour (34%), patterns (33%) and capacity (38%). As a result of this project, our epistemology regarding the importance of finding out about students' pre-foundational knowledge and understandings and providing a culturally appropriate learning environment with resources has been built upon.

2010

Some of the successful activities that have been used with young Australian indigenous students are discussed. The activities focus on mathematical communication, representations and early number ideas.

Keywords Ethnomathematics, Indigenisation, Ecological approach,Teaching on Country The Indigenisation of the Australian Mathematical curriculum is the challenge I throw to our pre service teachers in our fourth year programs. It is very much an “open slather” for teachers as the direction from ACARA is very limited in the Mathematics domain. The recent initiatives in STEM program are going some way in addressing this disparity. This practical demonstration in years 1, 5 and 7 will give teachers some glimpse of the possibilities for classroom context.