Running head: INDIGENIZING MATHEMATICS IN THE OKANAGAN 1

Indigenizing Mathematics in the Okanagan

Sally Bourque, Dustin Hyde and Andrew Shedden

University of British Columbia

Author Note

This research proposal has been completed to satisfy the course requirements of ETEC 500.
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Abstract

This research examines the impact of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) and
Indigenous community engagement as a strategy to support grade 8 math teachers navigating the
incorporation and implementation of British Columbia’s new curricular competencies specific to
Indigenous perspectives and world views. Indigenous Ways of Knowing (IWK) and the
influence of culture on Canadian mathematics curriculum will be analyzed. This qualitative,
year-long research study will take place on the unceded territory of the Okanagan First Peoples,
specifically Penticton, BC at school district no. 67’s KVR Middle School. Participants will
include all grade 8 math teachers at KVR and several Indigenous partner groups from the
community. Data will include narrative teacher journals, semi-structured interviews, audio
recordings and curriculum materials which will be categorized, interpreted and synthesized into
an overall portrait of the case. Conclusions will focus on thematic perspectives and attitudes and
the overall effectiveness of CRP and community engagement in this context.
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Research Question
How can culturally responsive pedagogies (CRP) help grade 8 math teachers who are
new to the process of Indigenization understand and implement BC’s new curricular
competencies specific to Indigenous worldviews and perspectives?

Objectives/ and Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to describe and examine a collaborative process aimed to
deconstruct, understand and implement the new BC competencies that incorporate Indigenous
perspectives, cultural practices and place-based education in mainstream, grade 8 math
classrooms. Using Nicol, Archibald, and Baker’s model of culturally responsive mathematics as
a guide, this case study will implement a similar design by focusing on “..interested and caring
teachers, community members, and researchers, coming together to explore the nature of
culturally responsive education…” (2013) within a more urban population with a focus on
perceptions and strategies for BC teachers to adequately understand and deliver the new
curriculum. The objectives of this study are to 1) examine, express and recognize perceived
barriers and resistance to connecting local, Indigenous worldviews and perspectives to
mathematical concepts in mainstream grade 8 classrooms, and guide a cohort of instructors to 2)
participate and reflect on community-engagement activities, 3) co-design new modules to pilot in
their classrooms, 4) reflect on their perceptions of knowledge, math and culture, and 5) propose
practical way forward to continue improving math education.

Perspectives or Theoretical Framework

Indigenous ways of knowing are qualitatively different than the knowledge traditionally
privileged in Canadian schools (Cochran et al., 2008) and incorporating Indigenous content is
often met with fear and resistance by instructors. (Avrill et al., 2013, p. 177-178) The new BC
curriculum aims to meaningfully integrate Indigenous voices and perspectives across all subject
areas (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2016) but instructors require support,
professional development and collaborative opportunities to understand, de-colonize and re-
design curriculum. (Cochran et al., 2008)

Introducing the concept of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) is one strategy to

influence the dialogue around how culture affects math. ( Ragoonaden and Mueller, 2017) CRP
can be defined as “a framework that recognizes the rich and varied cultural wealth, knowledge,
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and skills of diverse learners…” that “…seeks to develop a philosophical view of teaching that is
dedicated to nurturing students’ academic, social, emotional, cultural, psychological, and
physiological well-being” (Ragoonaden and Mueller, 2017, p. 24) Averil et al. suggest that the
goal of CRP is raising social consciousness and developing cultural competence. (2009)

Indigenous ways of knowing are not as compartmentalized as Western knowledge and

are interconnected with family, culture, language, history, nature and other aspects of Indigenous
lived experience.(LaFever, 2016) Cochran et al. state that part of necessary relationship building
(also suggested by Pete et al.,) is relationship building between Western academic knowledge
and Indigenous ways of knowing. Nicole, Archibald and Baker describe the significant impact
that consulting with community Elders had on a group of teachers’ abilities to Indigenize math
modules (2013, p. 80-81). Similarly, Sterenberg describes the process of consulting a school-
based Elder at various stages of redesigning math modules (2013, p. 99-100).

Description of the Methods

A qualitative research design will be implemented to provide an in-depth analysis of the
reasoning, values and experiences of the study participants. A case study of a single school will
analyze the collaborative process of a cohort of grade 8 math instructors as they engage with
critical Indigenous partner groups and examine their educational philosophy and beliefs about
culture and math education. Use of multiple instruments, methods and researchers will enhance
validity of the research through triangulation.

Participants
The sampling strategy for this study will be “Typical Sampling”, with the goal of
selecting a site that represents a middle-school typical of the Okanagan region. For the purpose
of this hypothetical proposal we imagine that the participants would be comprised of specific
members of the Penticton Indian band including the director of education, interested Elders,
knowledge keepers, along with school district 67’s (SD67) district principal of Aboriginal
education, site based Aboriginal Support Workers (ASW) and the grade 8 math instructors.
Other interested partner groups, such as the Friendship Center and South Okanagan Metis
Association (SOSMA) will be invited to participate. Students in the grade 8 math classes
affected may engage with redesigned modules but their experiences will not be directly observed
or collected by the researchers. The participating school will be Kettle Valley Railway (KVR)
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Middle School, part of school District No. 67 in the Okanagan. KVR Middle school is the largest
middle school in the district with a large Indigenous population and a broad spectrum socio-
economic profile among its students and families. Given the size of the school and the socio-
economic dichotomy that exists we felt KVR would serve as an excellent representative case for
the region. We anticipate the core group of participating instructors would be 3-4, and significant
participation from community member partner groups.

Instruments
Narrative Teacher Journals: A semi-structured journal activity will be implemented monthly
throughout the research study. Teachers will be asked to reflect on their personal educational
philosophy, their understanding, perception and attitude towards Indigenous competencies in
math, and their thoughts about the ongoing processes and experiences throughout the study.

Semi-structured interviews: Semi-structured interviews will be conducted at the beginning,

middle and end of the research study, allowing the researchers to expand on the base-questions
and follow-up with additional, emergent questions as the study progresses. Base questions will
be formatted in the following way: “What is your philosophy for teaching and learning math?”,
“How do you think culture affects mathematics?”, “How are Indigenous perspectives important
in a math classroom?”, “Are you apprehensive about this process?”

Audio Recordings: Monthly cohort meetings will be recorded, transcribed and time-
coded. While the meetings are taking place, the researchers will keep unstructured field notes
and time-code important observations. We will use a non-networked audio recorder (Zoom H6).
All audio will be preserved on SD cards specific to our current project.

Measures
Implicit Association Test (IAT): The IAT will be used at the beginning of the research study to
help participants reflect on their attitudes and beliefs about learning, culture and Indigenization.
The test claims to measure implicit attitudes and beliefs, which may help participants analyze
their own feelings and perceptions more authentically.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/canada/takeatest.html
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Demographic Questionnaire: Demographic questions will establish the self-identified cultural

and racial background of the instructor participants, number of years of teaching experience,
educational background, age and gender.

Existing Documents & Records: Some existing documents from the school district may be
obtained and used as points of analysis, discussion and comparison. These documents include
Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreements, curriculum materials, textbooks and
instructional manipulatives.

Procedures
The research will be conducted by three grad students. All researchers will be required to
complete Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) which is recommended for social,
behavioural and educational researchers. (Mertler, p. 60) Ethics approval will be obtained by the
University of British Columbia ethics board. All participants will sign and date an informed
consent form agreeing to the details of the study. Students in the participating grade 8 math
classes will also have to assent to participation in the study, and their parents must sign a consent
form on their behalf.

The study will take place over the length of one full school year, with description and consent
forms being signed before the summer break of the previous year (June) and the first meeting
commencing in early September. The first meeting will serve as the basis for completing the
IAT, the demographic questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The second meeting will
review the goals and objectives of the study and introduce the concept of CRP and community
engagement. Semi-structured journals will be assigned to the participating math instructors at the
end of September and will be collected by the researchers before the winter break, spring break
and finally at the end of the year. The group will meet monthly for 1.5 hours until the end of the
school term and time will be made available for instructors to complete their reflections during
most monthly meetings. Semi-structured interviews will be repeated in January and at the end of
June. Data from the interviews will be compared (triangulated) with audio recordings from the
monthly meetings, and journaling activities.
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Ethical Considerations When Working with Indigenous Knowledge

The researchers in this study acknowledge that Indigenous ways of knowing mathematics
differ dramatically from Western pedagogy. Indigenous knowledge is connected to language, the
land and culture. As researchers working alongside Indigenous experts and knowledge keepers, it
is important that we fully disclose the nature of our research, the scope of our research and how
we will protect Indigenous Intellectual Property. When working with Elders for whom English
may not be a first language, we will ensure that informed consent is acquired using the assistance
of an interpreter.

Data Analysis
Researchers will begin to organize, describe and interpret the data immediately, using an
iterative, inductive process to narrow the scope and volume of information into relevant patterns
and themes. A coding scheme will be agreed upon by the researchers and data will be read,
coded and re-read by alternating researchers to apply and refine the categorization and enhance
validity. After the initial coding process, researchers will describe the main features of the
categories and make connections between the data and original or emerging research questions
concerning CRP, math, and Indigenization. Researchers will engage in peer debriefing activities
with other professionals to help review and critique the data collection, analysis and
interpretation. Mid-way through the study, and again at the end, descriptions will be analyzed to
bring together a more holistic interpretation of the emerging phenomena and will include
concrete examples. Member checking will also be implemented to have participants review a
draft of the final report to review the accuracy of the data and findings.

Description of the Data Sources

Data for this study will be obtained from the instructor participants and not directly from the
students in their participating classes. Qualitative data from the audio recordings, demographic
questionnaire, interviews and journals will be descriptive and narrative in nature. Audio
recordings will provide rich, quotable examples.

There will be no quantitative data collected except in reference to years of teaching experience,
which will be used in the context of providing a rich description of the participants but not for
direct statistical analysis.
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Predicted Results/Conclusions
Qualitative descriptions and reflections will provide data to understand participant’s
perspectives throughout the study. Use of audio recordings will allow researchers to enhance
conclusions with direct quotations. Some of the expected findings of this study are
acknowledging the benefits of a CRP framework for Indigenizing math and increased
relationships between educators and Indigenous communities resulting in an increase in social
consciousness and cultural competence with respect to Indigenous perspectives. We also expect
the re-designed math modules to be well received by students and for instructors to desire to
continue working with Indigenous community groups beyond the end of this study. Findings
from this case study should be generalizable to other urban schools in BC, particularly in the
Okanagan region.

Educational Significance
Currently there is a lack of formal strategy or model for Indigenizing mathematics
courses in BC that directly responds to the curriculum redesign. While BC has mandated that
Indigenous perspectives be holistically embedded into mathematics at every level, teachers
struggle to understand how this might be achieved. This study will provide a foundational base to
help schools envision how to support instructors to build relationships with local Indigenous
communities and work together to enhance the cultural competence of their pedagogy.
Ultimately, we believe that the combination of CRP and community engagement will help BC
math instructors understand, deconstruct and combine different ways of knowing and learning
math.
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