On Friday February 27, 2015 more than 140 educators from across the province met at the UBC Longhouse to explore, imagine, and discuss new ideas, resources and research for improving mathematics education for Aboriginal learners. Participants including educators, support educators, administrators, ministry representatives and academics attended from Haida Gwaii, Kamloops, Lillooet, Terrace, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Penticton, Misson, Sechelt, Vanderhoof, Vancouver Island and across the Lower Mainland. The event was hosted by the Office of Indigenous Education, the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, and the Indigenous Teacher Education Program [NITEP] in the UBC Faculty of Education, along with the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences and the Actuarial Foundation of Canada.
Following a welcome address from Musqueam elder Marny Point and storytelling by Dr. Jo-ann Archibald, the morning began with Haida artist Billy Yovanovich, Kuuhlanuu guiding participants through a hands-on drawing workshop to explore and examine west coast Native art from a mathematical perspective. This was followed by a math fair developed by UBC MATH 335 students under the guidance of their instructors Dr. Shawn Desaulniers and Melania Alvarez. Over 50 students displayed more than 25 math games, puzzles, and hands-on problems they developed for participants, many with connections to Aboriginal cultural contexts. The fair was well received and a highlight of the day. Copies of the problems will be available on the Aboriginal Math Symposium website.
This year six participants shared their projects during the Symposium’s Informal Sharing session. Dr. Shawn Desaulniers, UBC Mathematics Department spoke about outreach activities such as Math Catcher, SNAP math fair, and Math Mania. Anjeanette Dawson, Squamish Nation shared her current wool weaving projects and motivated the weavers in the Symposium to continue their work. Caitlin Johnson, a teacher candidate at Vancouver Island University, shared a webquest she developed in David Sufrin’s course on teaching mathematics. Dr. Nathalie Sinclair, SFU, demonstrated an ipad application called TouchCounts. Finally Joanne Yovanovich. Haida Gwaii, spoke about ideas and possibilities of curriculum design using the Haida Marine Calendar.
As an example of connecting storywork and mathematics, participants listened to Raven Brings the Light as told by Old Massett Haida Gwaii elders and built paper nested boxes to explore questions related to size, surface area, volume, and patterns. As an extension, Natasha Davidson of Douglas College, guided participants in folding a raven from a square piece of paper. Enpaauk Andrew Dexel, Niakapamux artist, was unable to join the Symposium to share his work and participate in a conversation around its connection to mathematics, due to the birth of his child only days before.
The Aboriginal Math Network blog highlights ideas, lessons, resources, and updates on Aboriginal mathematics education. It is available at http://blogs.ubc.ca/aboriginalmathnetwork/ .
Submitted by Cynthia Nicol