Time: 8:30 am - 3:00 pm
Location: : Abbotsford Campus
Fraser Valley Mathematics Education Sq’ep
Sq’ep: a meeting, gathering
The Fraser Valley Mathematics Education Sq’ép will be held at the UFV Campus in Abbotsford on February 29, 2020. This event, organized by faculty from the University of the Fraser Valley and local district representatives, brings together a community of mathematics educators through the sharing of ideas, examples, resources, teaching practices and research activities that weave Indigenous knowledge and world views of knowing and connecting with mathematical learning. The structure of the gathering is unique in that we begin the day with a plenary, while the latter half consists of smaller breakout groups focusing on a particular connection between mathematics and Indigenous culture.
This year’s theme is “Mathematical Artforms and Indigenous Culture”. Mohawk mathematician Dr. Ed Doolittle of First Nations University will join us as a keynote to speak about connections between math and Indigenous music.
Workshop presenters include:
- Kori Czuy (University of Calgary)
- Janice Nowakowski (Richmond School District)
- Cynthia Nicol (University of British Columbia)
- Christine Younghusband (University of Northern British Columbia)
- Fok-Shuen Leung (University of British Columbia)
- Veselin Jungic (Simon Fraser University)
The cost of registration is $25. Early-bird registration is open until January 31st. Early-bird registrants will receive a resource package, including a book of their chosen grade level.
If you have any questions about the event, please feel free to email Kseniya Garaschuk at kseniya.garaschuk@ufv.ca
8:30 – 9:00 Registration & Breakfast
9:00 – 9:30 Opening Remarks
9:30 – 10:20 Keynote speaker: Dr. Ed Doolittle
10:20 – 10:45 Morning Break & Working Groups Session’s Sign up
10:45 – 12:00 Working Groups Morning Sessions
12:00 – 12:45 Lunch break
12:45 – 14:00 Working Group Afternoon Sessions
14:00 – 14:15 Coffee Break
14:15 – 14:30 Wrap-Up Discussions, Closing Ceremony & Door Prizes
Food
Breakfast and lunch will be provided with vegetarian options available.
Working group titles and abstracts
Fok-Shuen Leung
With loss of generality: Abstract mathematics and grounded applications
This workshop derives from insights gained in an introductory Mathematics course recently given for Indigenous elementary education students at the University of British Columbia. In particular, mathematics – at least as we commonly teach it in Canadian universities – has a tendency towards the abstract, while learning – particularly Indigenous learning – favours grounded, contextual approaches. Is there a right balance?
Attendees will participate in a lesson from the course before analyzing it together and extending their conclusions to their own teaching. Please dress for the weather, as some portion of the workshop will take place outside.
Veselin Jungic
What has Small Number been up to?
Small Number is a young Indigenous boy who has an impressive aptitude for mathematics – and also a proclivity for getting into trouble. In this workshop we will join Small Number in several of his adventures: We will count tipies, learn how to avoid double counting, check what happens when Perfect Number joins her brother’s basketball team, do calculus for Kindergarten, and try to catch a very smart rabbit.
Kori Czuy
(re)connecting with the land
When was the last time you truly connected to the land? …smelled the cedar, felt the soil between your toes, embarked on developing a relationship between the tall grasses by connecting with the subtle direction of the wind that moves the strands or connecting the location of the sun with the resulting shadows… Our place alongside Earth Mother is often described as on or over, creating a power dynamic of hierarchy and control, and through this process of dominance over the land, lost was our connection with her. Our ancestors understood the value of these connections and relationships, and passed on this knowledge through stories of direction, location, and measurement. Map-making was a way to navigate Earth Mother, create relationships between spirits and beings and places, predict cycles of change and chaos in order to thrive within the circle of relations, all relations. This workshop will reengage our relationship with the land by map-making through non-standard, natural materials, and through all our senses.
Christine Ho Younghusband
Embedding Mathematics into Indigenous Worldviews and Ways
This session is focused on designing secondary mathematics learning activities that focuses on the First Peoples Principles of Learning and local Indigenous knowledge. Christine will share her pedagogical experiences as a non-Indigenous math educator, curriculum developer, and teacher educator how she approached embedding mathematics into Indigenous worldviews and ways that integrates local Indigenous culture and mathematics. “Learning takes patience and time.” The planning process takes a reversed approach to planning by putting culture and context first before the mathematics. Christine has been learning from peers of Canadian Indigenous heritage, from professional learning opportunities to collaborate and develop learning activities that incorporate Indigenous content and curricular competencies, and embeds Indigenous learning experiences into her teaching practice to be more inclusive, develop numeracy, and deepen one’s understanding of First Peoples Principles of Learning. In this workshop you will consider strategies on how you can embed mathematics into local Indigenous context and content.
Cynthia Nicol
Listening to the Land for Mathematical Inspirations: Braiding art, storywork, and land-thinking as relational approaches for mathematics teaching.
This workshop explores how place/land can ground our relationships with each other, mathematics, and communities at local and global levels. We’ll consider how listening to land provides opportunities for mathematical engagement and relational ways of thinking/being. Together we’ll explore activities with potential to support students’ mathematical understanding of large numbers, patterning, transformations, measurement, volume, area, and proportional reasoning. We’ll also examine various frameworks to guide our lesson development and together share ideas and questions towards braiding future mathematical adventures.
Janice Novakowski
Connecting Mathematics to Community, Culture and Place: Susan Point’s Spindle Whorl Art Explorations
During this session, a math studio project with grades 3&4 students will be shared as one way to learn about cultural practices while uncovering mathematics in the process. Working group participants will engage in material-based explorations of spindle whorl design by considering shapes, symmetry, quantity, symbols and stories.
Event Location : Abbotsford Campus
Fraser Valley Mathematics Education Sq’ep
Date(s): Saturday, February 29Time: 8:30 am - 3:00 pm