Language and Teaching Mathematics

[Jon Reyhner]

The most recent issue of the Journal of American 
Indian Education (Vol. 44, No. 3, 2005) is edited 
by Jerry Lipka and his colleagues and has four 
articles on teaching mathematics in a culturally 
responsive way in Alaska.

Jon Reyhner
Northern Arizona University
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar

Mia Kalish wrote:
> People don’t seem to realize that when you teach something, it really, 
> really, really needs to relate to Something.
> 
>  
> 
> I watch people try to teach mathematics in abstraction . . . as if the 
> abstractions were born independent of the hundreds of years of stories 
> and references that provided the objects-to-think-with. Of course it 
> fails J
> 
>  
> 
> It’s not funny that it fails, just that people who have gone through 
> years of education to be teachers have somehow missed the fact that our 
> “knowledge” relates to our worlds. Yes, multiple worlds.
> 
>  
> 
> Gary Witherspoon writes wonderfully on this, not the topic of 
> mathematics exactly, but on the topic of how information and knowledge 
> makes sense within the culture where it is happening (like Diné and 
> mathematics, for example) but not from the culture from which it is 
> being observed. I wonder where he is now (he was at Rough Rock for a 
> long time).
> 
>  
> 
> Once upon a time, I asked if people had mathematical terms in their 
> dictionaries. I got some responses, but it turns out that there is not 
> much recorded. However, I have figured out how to go back into the 
> culture and construct Indigenous mathematics. There is a tremendous 
> amount of it, you know. There is math and science in sculpture, in sand 
> paintings, in pottery, in art, in story, in home building and food 
> preparation. There is math and science in calendricality, in 
> architecture, in road building, in sailing, in astronomy, in dance . . . 
> it’s all over.
> 
>  
> 
> This is my dissertation J It’s working. J
> 
>  
> 
> The important and interesting thing to my mind is to see how it looks in 
> the culture, not to grab out a few pieces and say, See, Indigenous 
> people have {this/these} concept(s) too. That destroys the picture of 
> Indigenous math, and implies (again, and aren’t we tired of this yet [Oh 
> dear I’ll never get a job with that kind of an attitude J]) that Western 
> Mathematics is the ONLY Mathematics. Not. The Arab world and the Chinese 
> worlds had zero, infinity, and probably even calculus long before 
> western europe.
> 
>  
> 
> Mia
> 
>  
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> From: Indigenous Languages and Technology 
> [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Andre Cramblit
> Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 6:35 PM
> To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
> Subject: Re: [ILAT] Language Is Life
> 
>  
> 
> Darn there I go making people feel good. lol
> 
> thanks
> 
>  
> 
> On Apr 20, 2006, at 5:31 PM, phil cash cash wrote:
> 
> 
> Thanks Andre, that was a very "feel good" news item.  We need more of 
> the same posted to ILAT.  ;-)
> 
> later, Phil
> 
>  
> 
> On Apr 20, 2006, at 12:11 AM, Andre Cramblit wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> Language Is Life©
> 
> André P. Cramblit Karuk Tribe
> 
>  
>