Rich and purposeful mathematical knowledge of mothers and children in a Torres Strait Islander community

Abstract

This paper focuses on a pilot study that explored the situated mathematical knowledge of mothers and children in one Torres Strait Islander community in Australia. The community encouraged parental involvement in their children’s learning and schooling. The study explored parents’ understandings of mathematics and how their children came to learn about it on the island. A funds of knowledge approach was used in the study. This approach is based on the premise that people are competent and have knowledge that has been historically and culturally accumulated into a body of knowledge and skills essential for their functioning and well-being (TIP 31:132, 1992). The participants, three adults and one child are featured in this paper. Three separate events are described with epiphanic or illuminative moments analysed to ascertain the features that enabled an understanding of the nature of the mathematical events. The study found that Indigenous ways of knowing of mathematics were deeply embedded in rich cultural practices that were tied to the community. This finding has implications for teachers of children in the early years. Where school mathematics is often presented as disembodied and isolated facts with children seeing little relevance, learning a different perspective of mathematics that is tied to the resources and practices of children’s lives and facilitated through social relationships, may go a long way towards improving the engagement of children and their parents in learning and schooling.

Funds of Knowledge in STEM Education: A Scoping Review

“…Six studies identified funds of knowledge of local communities, focusing on STEM ideas and practices related to their cultural practices (Albrecht & Upadhyay, 2018;Alvaré, 2017;Ewing, 2014;Handa & Tippins, 2013;Harper, 2016;Svarovsky et al, 2017). Studies often involved researchers physically entering community spaces, which is crucial to the ethnographic methods used in Moll et al (1992).…”

“…Somali mothers who participated in the study viewed science as more useful when it connected to their home practices. Two studies identified community funds of knowledge related to village fishing practices (Ewing, 2014;Handa & Tippins, 2013). In Ewing (2014), Torres Strait Islanders shared community practices of dividing fish among family members, which involved the mathematical practices of sorting and partitioning.…”

“…Two studies identified community funds of knowledge related to village fishing practices (Ewing, 2014;Handa & Tippins, 2013). In Ewing (2014), Torres Strait Islanders shared community practices of dividing fish among family members, which involved the mathematical practices of sorting and partitioning. Handa and Tippins (2013) explored the practices of a Filipino agriculture and fishing village, specifically rice cultivation using methods of sab-og (modern) or dapog (traditional), and palupad, a structure used to catch local shrimp and fish.…”