Math and Story

Day 20 (of 187) – October 1, 2018

First of all… Can you believe it’s October? Second, I cannot believe that I have the opportunity to work with the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) to revise the Math 8/9 Teacher Resource Guide (TRG). Finally, I am three daily blogs of learning behind. Yes, I am challenged tonight to get 3 blog entries done. It’s one of my #firstworldproblem edu-nightmares, but it’s an opportunity to harness the concept of a SHORT BLOG. Capture the BIG IDEA instead of a play-by-play of the day. I can do this.

What an incredible opportunity to work with Jo Chrona (@luudisk) and my good friend Desiree Marshall-Peer (@educatalyst_dmp) from UBC Okanagan. I also had the opportunity to meet and work with Cam Hill from SD52 in Hartley Bay and Bernard Gobin from FNESC. I love this work. Teaching Mathematics in a First Peoples Context Grades 8 and 9 is an amazing document that was almost a perfect fit to the Integrated Resource Package (IRP), the previous BC Curriculum. Now that we are immersed in BC’s New Curriculum, it’s time to modernize this Teacher Resource Guide in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), 21st Century Learning, and Indigenous Education.

With this project, I am so driven by my feelings and my love for story, Indigenous Worldview, and mathematics. Instead of leading with mathematics and the rigour of mathematics, let’s dig in deep into the story. It might be a traditional story, a narrative of a lived experience, or something that best captures the themes found in the resource that hooks the learner into mathematics in an Indigenous context. Des was one of the original writers of this document and I look to her direction for her expertise, but also Cam’s. I appreciate Jo’s leadership and Bernard’s willingness to make things happen. Today reminded me of curriculum development on BC’s New Curriculum Math K-9. That’s where I first met Des. She is the best. Thank you for inviting me on this journey. I’m loving every minute of it and looking forward to our work together and the final product to support teachers and learners in BC. We made excellent progress. Lots of work ahead.