CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE & RELEVANT PEDAGOGY

High-quality instruction that emphasizes deep mathematical thinking and cultural and linguistic knowledge and that addresses issues of inequity is the foundation of culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy (CRRP) in mathematics. In CRRP classrooms, teachers reflect on their own identities and pay attention to how those identities affect their teaching, their ideas, and their biases. Teachers also learn about students’ identities, identifications, and/or affiliations and connected lived experiences. Teachers develop an understanding of how students are thinking about mathematical concepts according to their cultural backgrounds and experiences, and make connections with these cultural ways of knowing in their pedagogy. This approach to pedagogy develops social consciousness and critique while valorizing students’ cultural backgrounds, communities, and cultural and linguistic competences. Teachers build on students’ experiences, ideas, questions, and interests to support the development of an engaging and inclusive mathematics classroom community.

In mathematics classrooms, educators use CRRP to create teaching and learning opportunities to engage students in shaping much of the learning and to promote mathematical agency investment in the learning. When students develop agency, they are motivated to take ownership of their learning of, and progress in, mathematics. Teaching about diverse mathematical approaches and figures in history, from different global contexts, can offer opportunities for students to feel that they are reflected in mathematical learning – a key factor in developing students’ sense of self – and to learn about others, and about the multiple ways mathematics exists in all aspects of the world around them.

Mathematics is situated and produced within cultures and cultural contexts. The curriculum is intended to expand historical understanding of the diversity of mathematical thought. In an anti-racist and anti-discriminatory environment, teachers know that there is more than one way to develop a solution, and students are exposed to multiple ways of knowing and encouraged to explore multiple ways of finding answers.

Indigenous pedagogical approaches emphasize holistic, experiential learning, teacher modelling, and the use of collaborative and engaging activities. Teachers differentiate instruction and assessment opportunities to encourage different ways of learning, to allow students to learn from and with each other, and to promote an awareness of and respect for the diverse and multiple ways of knowing that are relevant to and reflective of students’ lived experiences in classrooms, schools, and the world. When making connections between mathematics and real-life applications, teachers are encouraged to work in partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis individuals, communities, and/or nations. Teachers may respectfully incorporate culturally specific examples that highlight First Nations, Inuit, and Métis cultures, histories, present-day realities, ways of knowing, and contributions, to infuse Indigenous knowledges and perspectives meaningfully and authentically into the mathematics program. In this way, culturally specific examples centre Indigenous students as mathematical thinkers, and strengthen learning and course content so that all students continue to learn about diverse cultures and communities in a respectful and informed way. Students’ mind, body, and spirit are nourished through connections and creativity.

From the MTH 1W Curriculum