Fire Circles Towards Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Indigenous Mathematics Education
We, the M4RS group, will curate readings on culturally sustaining teaching for Indigenous students based on participants' interests. We will conduct four Fire Circle discussions Tuesdays and Thursdays July 19-28, 4-5:30 pm ET.
We anticipate the following:
- Engaging in Fire Circle discussions synchronously (during our four meetings) or asynchronously (posting in the discussion board)
- Sharing experiences, knowledge, and questions
- Reading texts, listening to podcasts, or other media that help us learn about culturally sustaining teaching for Indigenous students
We invite anyone who is involved with mathematics education and Indigenous students or communities to participate. This includes students, instructors, advisors, tutors, and high school teachers.
Mathematics for
RELATIONALITY
RESPONSIBILITY
RESPECT
RECIPROCITY
Frameworks
The Ojibway (Chippewas), Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations formed the Confederacy of the Three Fires of peoples who shared similar languages and territories and who met together for military and political purposes. Each Nation had their role in that Confederacy. The Ojibway (Chippewas) were the providers, the Odawa were the warriors, and the Potawatomi were the firekeepers. The Council of the Three Fires had a number of meeting places. We see the learning community as a space in which people from various regions come together, in Zoom conversations and online discussions, for educational and social justice purposes. Similar to how a fire shifts with changes in wind, our conversations will shift based on the interests and needs of our community members.
Our name, M4RS (pronounced mars), reflects the core values of our team. Brayboy and colleagues (2012) discussed the four Rs of research: Relationality, Responsibility, Respect, and Reciprocity. Those values inform how we approach this work.
Citation: Brayboy, B. M. J., Gough, J. R., Lenoard, B., Roehl II, R. F., & Solyom, J. A. (2012). Reclaiming scholarship: Critical Indigenous research methodologies. In S. D. Lapan (Ed.), Qualitative research: An introduction to methods and designs (pp. 423- 450). Jossey-Bass
Who We Are
Michael Little Crow
[email protected]
Michael Little Crow is an Indigenous Math Educator from the Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe-Cree people. With his co-founder Uraiwan Pinthong, OPEN Global Village, Original Peoples Education Network, Inc. was created to support two education abroad projects to Thailand and one sabbatical teaching mathematics through robotics in Kazakhstan. He works with the education agencies of several tribal nations including the Pascua Yaqui, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Gila River Indian Community, and several of the Chippewa nations in North Dakota and Wisconsin to provide professional development in mathematics. Receiving continued support and direction from Dr. Pinthong, his mindfulness coach and mentor, he develops workshops which use the 3,000-year-old mental calculation techniques from India to empower learners of all ages to connect with the power of the mathematics inside themselves, using the human development aspects of math to help individuals from throughout the world reach their full human potentiality. Little-Crow was an instructor at Oregon State university from 1998 - 2004, residential faculty at Scottsdale Community College from 2004 - 2018, and now is a lecturer at Arizona State University. These appointments are in addition to his international work for OPEN Global Village, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Claire Boeck
[email protected]
I am a doctoral candidate in higher education at the University of Michigan. Before starting the PhD program, I taught Humanities courses at a community college in Chicago. The students inspired me to learn about students’ experiences in college and how college can be a space where they accomplish their own goals - not the goals set for them by others. I have worked on several research projects as a doctoral student, most of which are about community colleges or community college students.
Vilma Mesa
[email protected]
I am professor of Education and Mathematics at the University of Michigan. I investigate mathematics instruction in undergraduate mathematics, specifically at community colleges and in inquiry-based learning classrooms. I have conducted several analyses of textbooks and evaluation projects on the impact of innovative mathematics teaching practices for students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Belin Tsinnajinnie
[email protected]
Yá’át’éeh! Shi ei Belin Tsinnajinnie yinishyé. Ilocano nishłí. Táchii’nii bashishchiin. Ilocano dashicheii. Tsi’naajinii da shinalí. Akot’éego dine nishłí. Santa Fe, New Mexico-di kééhasht’í dóó Na’Neelzhiin déé naashá. I am a Research Associate with WestEd. I received my PhD in Mathematics at the University of Arizona with a doctoral thesis focused on notions of mathematical identity in the context of Indigenous and Latinx students. I am interested in identifying and addressing issues pertaining social justice, diversity, and equity in mathematics education, particularly through Indigenous experiences and perspectives.
Frank Savina
[email protected]
I am (he/him) in my 25th year as a math educator and have spent the last 9 years at the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin. I work primarily on mathematics curriculum, focusing on equity minded design for gateway-level mathematics courses such as Quantitative Reasoning, Precalculus, and Introductory Statistics. Before joining the Dana Center, I was a math faculty member at El Paso Community College in El Paso, Texas.
This course is supported by the EdHub for Community & Professional Learning.
Join Fire Circles Towards Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Indigenous Mathematics Education
This program has been developed for anyone who is involved with mathematics education and Indigenous students or communities to participate. This includes students, instructors, advisors, tutors, and high school teachers.
We believe in the four Rs of Relationality, Responsibility, Respect, and Reciprocity and strive to reflect that in making this course as accessible as possible for interested participants. Thus, we offer a sliding scale and scholarship options so cost is not a barrier.
| Situation: You Are | Cost |
|---|---|
|
$250 |
|
$125 |
|
Free |
In addition, we offer scholarships for the following individuals and situations:
- Teaching at a Tribal College or NASNTI (Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institution)
- Collaborates with and/or serves an Indigenous community
- Teaching at an institution that serves a significant number of students in need
- People (including students) who identify as Indigenous but are not recognized as such by a tribe/nation
- People who identify as Indigenous and are recognized by a tribe/nation
- Students (undergraduate and graduate)
If your situation is different from what we described above and cost is a barrier to your participation, please let us know. We can work with you.