Mar 18, 2024
Students created bracelets under supervision of Métis knowledge keepers
An elementary school initiative that explores math concepts while incorporating Indigenous practices is making its way into classrooms across Canada.
The Métis-math collaboration is part of a larger collection spearheaded by mathematics education researcher Ruth Beatty of Lakehead University in 2012. It’s called First Nations and Métis Math Voices.
“One of the main reasons we started this was so that First Nations students could see themselves reflected in classroom practice, particularly around math,” said Beatty, an associate professor in Lakehead’s faculty of education.
“We recognize that there’s so much mathematics that is part of Métis cultural practices and First Nations cultural practices. So we wanted to use that as a way of contextualizing math, making it meaningful for First Nations and Métis students, but also giving other students a chance to form relationships with community partners.”