I enjoyed the conversations and am so
encouraged to be working with these future
educators in my career. I would also like to
thank the professor of my ECS 110 class,
Vivian Gauvin. She teaches with incredible
vulnerability and compassionate wisdom
to guide us future educators through these
tough yet very necessary conversations.
~Brandy Burns
Treaty Walk in the Village team.
(L-R) Brandy Burns with Instructor Vivian Gauvin
Indigenizing math concepts
arguments presented for changing the
Mathematics 101 final evaluation from
exam to project were accepted by Dr.
Shaun Fallat, Head of the Department of
Mathematics & Statistics. The support of Dr.
Fallat and the Dean of Science, Dr. Farenick,
need be acknowledged for reconciliatory
acts may not otherwise be possible without
the support of such powerful individuals.
Sessional instructor, Shana Graham, with some of the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP –
Regina) Year 1 preservice teachers and their Mathematics 101 Mini Math Fair (final project) posters.
On December 11, 2017, Math 101 students
held a mini Math Fair, presenting their
posters which reflected the Indigenization
of mathematics concepts. (see photos
above) education, Shana Graham has been
studying Indigenization and decolonization
so as to inform her dissertation research
which involves (re)imagining possibilities
for mathematics education.
The concept of Indigenization is identified
as “one of the University’s two overarching
areas of emphasis” within the 2015-2020
Strategic Plan (https://www.uregina.ca/
strategic-plan/priorities/indigenization.
html). Depending upon the definition
consulted, Indigenization may or may
not be considered the work of settler/
immigrant Canadians for it involves first-
hand revitalizations of First Nations, Inuit
and Métis languages, legal systems, and
ceremonies, among many other aspects.
Indigenization, however, lies in relation
with decolonization and thereby challenges
all Canadians to work at disrupting and
changing current institutions and systems,
including those educational. Thus, as
a doctoral candidate of mathematics The idea for the implementation of a
Mathematics 101 final project as poster
and Mini Math Fair was informed by
Show Me Your Math: Connecting Math to
Our Lives and Communities, a program
developed by Dr. Lisa Lunney-Borden and
Dr. David Wagner (http://showmeyourmath.
ca/). While a final poster project is not
unusual within education courses, it is
unique to a Mathematics 101 course.
Decolonization, however, encourages
considerations of context/community,
which for this particular mathematics
course involved only preservice teachers
from the Saskatchewan Urban Native
Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP-
Regina). Thus, in adapting/decolonizing
curricula for context/community, the
Education News | Page 15