Brief Summary:
Lisa Lunney Borden is a mathematics educator and researcher working in a Mi’kmaw Kinamatnewey (MK) school for ten years. She argues that teachers and students are supposed to acknowledge their identity and culture in order to stop the further disengagement of many students from marginalized groups. In addition, she worked on developing her teaching philosophy based on the concept of “verbification” of mathematics. Borden gave an example of conducting a mathematics lesson on prisms and pyramids in a grade three class by adopting the unique grammatical structures in a verb/action-based language to support student mathematics understanding. She believes that mathematics is not just about objects and facts, things that can only be described as nouns, but verbification is also an efficient way to describe mathematics.
Three Stops:
a. “Everyone has something that they can learn.” (p. 9)
I love the attitude that Borden sought the advice of many community elders. The community leader suggested she use the word mawikinutimatimk which means “coming together to learn together”. How powerful a word is! As a teacher, we must acknowledge that each participant that joins in the class has something unique to contribute. This piece of discussion reminds me of the First People Principle of Learning and how they really benefit all learners in a classroom. It is worth trying to find an entry point for us to reach out to students of (Indigenous) culture.
b. When Borden articulates the model for examining the complexities of mathematics learning for Mi’kmaw students, she mentions the significance of making ethnomathematical connections for students.
I totally agree with Borden’s idea, we should not ignore the influence of one’s culture. Although ethnomathematics is widely known, as well as the frame of the curriculum approaches of employing ethnomathematics in classrooms gradually diverse, however, ethnomathematics in the Chinese mathematics classroom seems superficial and only is used for the introduction part in the mathematics concept. From a math teacher’s perspective, I think it might be time for our Chinese mathematics teachers to take our cultures into account and bring them to our mathematics classroom. It is believed that mathematics education can be more effective if examples are taken from culturally specific contexts (Barton, 1996). Teachers should look over and analyze the proper activities from different cultural backgrounds, then find the activities that are appropriate to be integrated into the class, and create a really rich and inspiring environment to help students develop their potentials” (Gerdes, 2001). All students, all people, have the capacity to do and study mathematics, to study and make sense of the patterns that are part of the land/place we experience.
c. I love the part that Borden had a communication with a Mi’kmaw speaker around the word “flat”. In Mi'kmaq, verbification can be seen everywhere, they would say the tire was losing air instead of a flat tire, they would say the prism could “sit still” instead of the prism was flat. I am wondering, if we more often use verbification in our math class, mathematics would be visible and vivid. Even the students’ descriptions of the prisms as “going like this” along with gestures indicated the motion embedded in their conceptual understandings (p. 12)
My Questions:
Have you ever thought about how traditional/regular mathematics classes discourage students from constructing a personal understanding of mathematics? Do you have any ideas or resources to develop an intercultural class for mathematical education?
Reference:
Barton, B. (1996). Making Sense of Ethnomathematics: Ethnomathematics is Making Sense.
Gerdes, P. (2001). Exploring the Game of Julirde: A Mathematical-Educational Game Played by Fulbe Children in Cameroon.
I think that often students get bogged down by the traditional and "correct" vocabulary, and this turns them off of the subject entirely (or at least somewhat). Many students have confessed to me that vocabulary is tough for them and that they get caught up in having the "right" word for things, rather than trying to construct their own understanding. Many of them have told me that it is largely because many of their teachers have treated traditional vocabulary as more important and a requirement for a good mark. However, other students have told me that they struggle with vocabulary because teachers have not reinforced it enough. As we have discussed in class, when students have the knowledge of terminology and are confident with using it, it gives them power over their learning and allows them to access higher levels of mathematics.
回复删除Thank you Erica for sharing such minute points of verbification in math classes. This gives me a sense that using language in math class directly influences its importance from a student's perspective. I agree that traditional/regular classrooms are so planned and could not afford space and time for students to think wisely about mathematics, which discourages their understanding related to it. A Euro-centric environment in math classes does not give us liberty to use multiple approaches in math classes. Intercultural approach is important to have in math classes but I always wonder about how we can introduce it in classes?
回复删除Wonderful examples from Lunney-Borden's writing here, emphasizing the verb-iness of Indigenous languages and cultures. I love the idea that a flat-based prism would sit still, or a warped circle would roll with a bump. These are great examples of ways of talking and thinking about geometry that emphasize shapes in movement. I'm also glad that you mentioned the intergenerational work of kids with elders in learning -- something so different from our age-segregated classrooms. Could you imagine, say, a Chinese school classroom with elders present, perhaps spending time outdoors, and working with traditional Chinese mathematical concepts and ways of exemplifying them? I would love to know what this could be like!
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