Considering Indigenous Perspectives and Mathematics Education: Stories of Our Experiences As Teachers and Teacher Educators

Abstract

In a Canadian context where calls to action are made in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and where the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples have been recently adopted, it becomes important for teachers to engage in the decolonization of education. Both documents acknowledge the need to rebuild relationships with First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples and specifically call for the development of strategies to eliminate the educational gaps between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Canadians, the development of culturally appropriate curricula, and the incorporation of principles that respect and honour treaty relationships. In an effort to respond to these calls to action, significant program changes in school mathematics have been made across Canada that encourage teachers to consider Indigenous perspectives. These initiatives challenge pre-service teachers to shift their ways of knowing that are typically based on a Euro-Western perspective. This chapter presents the process we took as teachers and teacher educators to enact Indigenous perspectives within our educational contexts. Exemplars from research on culturally-responsive education and learning from place are offered as ways of integrating Indigenous perspectives and mathematics. It is our belief that all students benefit from curricula that incorporates Indigenous knowledges and our hope that the teaching and learning of mathematics can support these calls to action.