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Mathematics for Indigenous Australian Students

http://indigenous-australian-mathematics.weebly.com

Reading 1:
Issues in Teaching Mathematics to Aboriginal Students
Peter Howard Bob Perry 2006
Written by Peter Howard and Bob Perry (2006), the article Issues in Teaching Mathematics to
Aboriginal Students summarises the issues that occur in classrooms that effect different teachers
ability to teach effectively. The article also reports on a 9 month ethnographic study that interviewed
the Aboriginal students and their parents, Aboriginal educators and non-Aboriginal teachers in year
5/6 classrooms (Howard & Perry, 2006).
Howard and Perry (2006) briefly explain that Aboriginal people have high rates of being poor,
incarcerated, unemployed and uneducated. It is fair to say that this conclusion has been a result of the
little improvement in Aboriginal students over the last 20 years (Howard & Perry, 2006). This
difference, also known as the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Australia, needs
to be recognised in Australian schools (Cooper, Baturo, Warren, & Doig, 2004).
It is often known that the learning of mathematics takes place in a social context within the classroom
(Siemon, et al., 2011). However, Howard and Perry (2006) acknowledge that this social context may
not acknowledge each childs culture. Each child learns differently, and their culture will have an
impact on the way they learn (Hyde, Carpenter, & Conway, 2014). For Aboriginal students, learning
through hands-on activities, is important as that is how they learn in their home environments
(Cooper, Baturo, Warren, & Doig, 2004).
The article also acknowledges that having one mathematics program or curricula for all schools and
students, can limit the possibilities for teaching and learning mathematics content and knowledge
(Howard & Perry, 2006). However, I believe that each teacher, dependent on whole school
approaches, can change and adapt their teaching philosophy and program to suit the needs of their
learners, while also teaching the national curriculum. Thankfully, our Australian Curriculum allows
for versatility in teaching approaches, and each teacher can use, for example, one outcome in many
different ways. Vice versa, teachers can teach an outcome in numerous ways. Tanenbaum (2011)
acknowledges the importance of teaching all learners and recommends teachers to think of 3 different
ways to teach a concept before the lesson, allowing for differentiated learning.

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The 9 month ethnographic study detailed in this article, mentioned numerous comments from teachers
within the studied school and reflections on these teachers (Howard & Perry, 2006). Mrs Cotter
commented that she doesnt understand why kids dont understand it. I believe that this is an
example of narrow-minded teaching, because if you know your students dont understand or grasp
what youre teaching, then you need to change the way you are teaching it. Mrs Allan, who has had 24
years of experience teaching students, commented that it is much harder now (to teach) than it was
before due to the different abilities within a classroom. Ms Jones also commented on the difficulty of
differentiating learning for abilities in her classroom, when there is a lot of content to cover. She said
it is hard to extend the children that finish tasks quickly and grasp concepts easily, when majority of
her students are far behind. Ms Martin commented that she feels that most of the Aboriginal students
she teaches have negative self-esteem issues, and commented that when they are negative in
themselves, they are also negative towards learning. This is why I believe it is so important to hold
high expectations of our students. Mr Kennedy claims that the hardest thing in teaching mathematics
is getting the kids to listen, while also commenting are the kids going to know what Ive been telling
them? Firstly, Mr Kennedy talks about his students having to listen to what he is telling them, and
I believe that this perspective could be a root to his problem in teaching. It is important to allow
children to learn and find things out themselves. Teachers dont necessarily tell students what to do
and how to do it, they more-so teach students ways to understand concepts and allow the students to
experiment with problem solving.
In conclusion, it is interesting to note that the teachers comments about teaching mathematics in their
classroom, did not include much discussion about the difference between the Aboriginal students and
non-Aboriginal students, even though 32% of the 412 students within the school are Aboriginal
(Howard & Perry, 2006). Evidently there is a lack of appreciation and awareness for Aboriginality
within the teaching context, and in assumption, there would also be a lack of appropriate resources
and teaching methods in the school (Howard & Perry, 2006).

Reading 2:
Young White Teachers Perceptions of Mathematics Learning of
Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Students in Remote Communities
Tom J Cooper Annette R Baturo Elizabeth Warren Shani M
Doig 2004
This article, written by Cooper, Baturo, Warren and Doig (2004), provides a descriptive view of how
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Aboriginal teachers perspective. The article provides an overview of; the past for Aboriginal people
and the issues affecting the Aboriginal community today; policies related to the Aboriginal
community; and the decisions that have been made by the Australian Government (Cooper, Baturo,
Warren, & Doig, 2004).
As acknowledged by the majority of teachers in Australia, there is a known gap between the nonAboriginal and Aboriginal students (Siemon, et al., 2011). This gap is shown in the achievement and
assessment results of students in the classroom (Cooper, Baturo, Warren, & Doig, 2004). Due to the
decisions made by the Australian Government, the people of the Aboriginal culture have been left
between two cultures, causing this wide gap in between. The article describes this as the Aboriginal
culture....existing neither within the traditional parameters of Aboriginal culture nor as part of the
Western capitalist system which contextualises most of the Australian society (Cooper, Baturo,
Warren, & Doig, 2004).
As a teacher, I believe it is very important to acknowledge this gap between Aboriginal and NonAboriginal students, and hinder upon the possibility that it was caused by the Australian
Government (Cooper, Baturo, Warren, & Doig, 2004). Further, to decrease this gap in the
classroom, it is essential to recognise the knowledge that all children, but particularly Aboriginal
children, bring to the classroom (Siemon, et al., 2011). This knowledge, that may differ between
groups, ages and students, may influence the individual students preferred learning styles,
interests and physical abilities (Tanenbaum, 2011). This is very important for Aboriginal
students, if their preferred learning style is through hands-on learning.
In the second part of this article, two different studies on the perceptions of Aboriginal students from
non-Aboriginal teachers are compared. The first study from Green (1982) was conducted 20 years ago
(Cooper, Baturo, Warren, & Doig, 2004). The article detailed numerous factors that teachers had
spoken of, as the reason for the low achievement of Aboriginal students. Some of the factors were:

Aboriginal children are being ignored

The reading materials are inappropriate
Teachers do not have adequate training to teach Aboriginal children
There is a lack of Aboriginal support staff
There is inadequate extra-curricular activities available
(Cooper, Baturo, Warren, & Doig, 2004)

I believe that all of these factors have essential components within the classroom and school
community. It is important that Aboriginal children are acknowledged, and as previously
mentioned, their prior knowledge and skills are utilised. The reading materials within the
classroom must be appropriate, and this is relevant to all children (Tanenbaum, 2011). Speaking
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with the local Aboriginal children, or the families of the children within your class, is a great way
to find out about their interests and knowledge. It would be easy to introduce Aboriginal
dreamtime stories to your classroom, or have students use Aboriginal symbols to create their own
story (Hyde, Carpenter, & Conway, 2014).
Furthermore, when all of these factors (appropriate materials, teachers understanding and
listening to children, adequate training, Aboriginal support staff, and extra-curricular activities)
are introduced into the classroom and school community, then Aboriginal students may see
school as a place within their community that they belong to (Hyde, Carpenter, & Conway,
2014).
The second study has been conducted from the perspectives of non-Aboriginal teachers, who are
young, inexperienced, and have only recently graduated. The teachers referred to different factors or
deficits that affected the Aboriginal students within their community. The main factors recognised
were; attendance, school readiness and transient lifestyles. They also acknowledged that there was a
known lack of interest for learning, in their students home environment.
Working in a school, the factors mentioned in the article are all still spoken of today. We as
teachers need to be asking Why are these factors prevalent in our classroom? I believe it is due
to the difference between the school context, in comparison to the students home context. The
students in their home environment are known to be learning kinaesthetically, but majority of the
tasks at school do not have kinaesthetic components (Cooper, Baturo, Warren, & Doig, 2004).
Further, it is important for teachers to hold high expectations of their students, and not see them
as another low achiever. All students need to be supported to achieve, and they need to be
supported individually and in their own way.

Reading 3:
Learning Mathematics: Perspectives of Australian Aboriginal
children and their teachers
Peter Howard Bob Perry 2005
An article written by Peter Howard and Bob Perry (2005), Learning Mathematics: Perspectives of
Australian Aboriginal Children and Their Teachers, details the beliefs and understandings of
mathematics from Aboriginal children and their Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal teachers. In the
production of the article, a study was conducted over 9 months that involved groups of year 5 and 6
Aboriginal students and their parents, Aboriginal educators, and non-Aboriginal teachers (Howard &
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Perry, Learning Mathematics: Perspectives of Australian Aboriginal children and their teachers,
2005).
The article detailed responses from Aboriginal children when asked how they learn mathematics. The
children said they learnt predominately by listening, watching and working out on paper (Howard &
Perry, Learning Mathematics: Perspectives of Australian Aboriginal children and their teachers,
2005). One child said said they learn by practicing at home with their parents, and then learning what
they dont learn at home, by listening to the teacher (Howard & Perry, Learning Mathematics:
Perspectives of Australian Aboriginal children and their teachers, 2005). Another child said they dont
feel like learning, but the teacher said they have to go to detention if they dont do the work (Howard
& Perry, Learning Mathematics: Perspectives of Australian Aboriginal children and their teachers,
2005).
It was noticeable that the way these children learn mathematics in their classroom, reflects on
their low mathematical engagement and willingness to learn mathematically. In our current
society, it is fundamentally important to contextualize learning in mathematics, especially for
Aboriginal children (Brown, 2008). To contextualize learning, teachers could relate the
mathematics lesson to the interests or real life experiences of the children, their families, and
their local town (Siemon, et al., 2011) (Watson, 2008). It is almost as important to engage
children in hands-on experiences to learn mathematics, increasing their engagement, attention,
and visualization of mathematics concepts (Siemon, et al., 2011) (Brown, 2008).
The teachers explained their issues with the children learning mathematics. Some issues discussed
were around motivation, maturity, and prior learning (Howard & Perry, Learning Mathematics:
Perspectives of Australian Aboriginal children and their teachers, 2005). One teacher expressed that
the children wanted to do stencil work, where there are questions the children needed to answer, and
that they couldnt be bothered doing open-ended or problem solving tasks (Howard & Perry, Learning
Mathematics: Perspectives of Australian Aboriginal children and their teachers, 2005). Other issues
that were identified as factors of low mathematical understanding were; the students have low
expectations on themselves; attentiveness, motivation and willingness to learn; and the teachers not
knowing their students history of learning mathematics (Howard & Perry, Learning Mathematics:
Perspectives of Australian Aboriginal children and their teachers, 2005).
It is evident that the children involved in the study have not been learning in an inclusive
environment (Hyde, Carpenter, & Conway, 2014). Particularly, when there are different cultures
within a classroom, impacting on a broader diversity, it is important to appreciate the conflict
between cultures that may be apparent between students, parents and teachers (Hyde,
Carpenter, & Conway, 2014). Once this is acknowledged, accommodations can be made to
allow all students to participate at their full potential (Hyde, Carpenter, & Conway, 2014). As
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well as knowing the childs background, it is important to know how they learn and to create an
inclusive mathematical program and classroom that is responsive to the needs of the learners
(Hyde, Carpenter, & Conway, 2014).

Bibliography
Brown, K. (2008). Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia Inc.
Employing Mathematical Modelling to Respond to Indigenous Students
Needs for Contextualised Mathematics Experiences, 92-98. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED503747.pdf#page=92
Christie, F., & Mission, R. (1998). Literacy and Schooling. USA and Canada:
Psychology Press.
Cooper, T. J., Baturo, A. R., Warren, E., & Doig, S. M. (2004). YOUNG "WHITE"
TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF MATHEMATICS LEARNING OF ABORIGINAL
AND NON-ABORIGINAL STUDENTS IN REMOTE COMMUNITIES. International
Group for Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 239-246). Australia:
Psychology of Mathematics Education.
Howard, P., & Perry, B. (2005). Learning Mathematics: Perspectives of Australian
Aboriginal children and their teachers. Retrieved from abed.bostes.nsw.edu.au/files/Learningmathematics.doc
Howard, P., & Perry, B. (2006). Issues in Teaching Mathematics to Aboriginal
Students. Retrieved from www.merga.net.au/documents/RP322006.pdf
Hyde, M., Carpenter, L., & Conway, R. (2014). Diversity, Inclusion and
Engagement. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Siemon, D., Beswick, K., Brady, K., Clark, J., Faragher, R., & Warren, E. (2011).
Teaching Mathematics Foundations to Middle Years. Melbourne: Oxford
University Press.
Tanenbaum. (2011). The Seven Principles for Inclusive Education. Retrieved from
http://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/ED%20-%20Seven
%20Principles.pdf
Watson, J. (2008). Critical Numeracy in Context . Retrieved from
http://www.nlnw.nsw.edu.au/videos08/critical_numeracy/pdf/jane_watson.p
df

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