Jodie Hunter

Weaving together Indigenous knowledge systems and mathematics education

In many countries, ongoing colonisation has rendered Indigenous knowledge systems invisible within educational systems and particularly in mathematics education. This leads to cultural dissonance for Indigenous students and a representation of mathematics in Western schooling systems as abstract and culturally neutral. In New Zealand and the Pacific as well as other countries, efforts towards shifting mathematics education to begin to value and privilege Indigenous ways of knowing and being have been slow and challenging. Currently, there is ongoing debate about whose and what knowledge counts as legitimate and the role of Indigenous knowledge systems within education and the validity of approaches that connect to this. In this seminar, we will work together to examine examples of Indigenous knowledge systems that connect to mathematics. I will describe our work in the Pacific nations to support children and their families to recognise Indigenous funds of knowledge and demonstrate how we can view Indigenous knowledge as adding new dimensions and enriching both our work and perspectives.

There will be a 20-minute introduction by Lara Lalemi from the School of Chemistry, including a description of her own work on decolonising science education. Please note that the colloquium is for 90 minutes.

Registration is free, but required to assess numbers. Please register using the link https://forms.office.com/e/HW8Vnn1zy7