Math Is Math the World Over: Or Is It?

• In Event: Cultural Expressions and Creativity in Education: Voices From Africa and the Caribbean

Abstract

This paper will examine the ways in which Math is conceived, to consider the challenges these views present to the teaching and learning of mathematics and to consider a culturally responsive framework for teaching math in postcolonial context.
Mathematics is commonly conceived as objective, external, the same for everyone, and value-free with many enduring popular myths (referred to as the Romance of Mathematics, Lakoff and Núñez, 2000) but is now shown to be a product of social and cultural activity (Davis and Hersh, 1991; Hersh, 1999). The first half of my title comes from a response by a journal editor in the Caribbean to my query of the challenges of making research conducted in North America relevant to the Caribbean. As a Caribbean educator of mathematics and statistics, living and working in Canada, with an unremitting personal imperative of contributing to Caribbean society, I am seeking ways to understand the dimensions of effective mathematics teaching in the contexts of place, time, society, and culture and, in particular, in the Caribbean.
Three current note-worthy theoretical perspectives in mathematics education are sociocultural theory (placing the individual in a social context), ethnomathematics (emphasizing the cultural background of the learner) and critical mathematics education (issues of power, agency, and identity). A more significant and evocative direction is that of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) which has been developed in North America in response to teaching mathematics in First Nations and Aboriginal contexts (Lipka, Math in a Cultural Context with the Yup’ik of Alaska; Borden, Mawikinutimatimk: Creating space for Indigenous mathematical knowledge work with the Mi'kmaw in Cape Breton, and Ezeife, in the Cree community in Northern Manitoba) and in Native-, Hispanic-, and African-American contexts (Ladson-Billings, Villegas). Culturally responsive pedagogy privileges, in the search for relevance and responsibility, a sociocultural consciousness, an affirmation of the diversity of cultural backgrounds, and a recognition that knowledge is more meaningful and appealing when placed within the frames of reference of lived experience of our learners.
I report on a study on the understandings of probability carried out in a Grade 7 classroom using methods designed to engage the students of Aboriginal and immigrant backgrounds. Using stories and artifacts from these cultures, I designed activities that brought out the main ideas and uncovered misconceptions. The data sources were the students’ written work in pre- and post-tests and the transcripts of semi-structured interviews with a small sample of students. The findings suggest that while the students responded well to the culturally-centered activities, the misconceptions persisted.
The questions that arise for me are those that come from acknowledging that to know is not enough: Non Satis Scire. How do I honor and build on the indigenous knowledge and practices of mathematics educators in the Caribbean? How can I use the knowledge that we have gained from work in so many cultural contexts in North America and the Caribbean in developing culturally responsible pedagogy in the Caribbean? And is this just yet another question of transfer?

Author

• Veda Roodal Persad, Simon Fraser University