Throughout my school experience mathematics was taught the same way in every classroom. Personally, I struggled with mathematics and the teaching methods used in my school did not help me improve. My teachers used the typical Eurocentric ideas to teach mathematics. My teachers only provided one way to go about the problems and solutions in class which prevented a lot of students from succeeding. If we, as students, decided to go about the problems in a different way the teachers often marked it wrong even if we got the correct answer because we used a different system. The idea that there is only one way to go about these problems and the lack of options provided was very oppressive to many students because not everyone thinks the same way. I remember distinctly in grade five I struggled greatly with mathematics. The teacher gave students tokens and every time we asked a question, we would lose a token. Once all of our tokens were gone, we could no longer ask anymore questions that day. This caused me a lot of issues because I struggled so much with mathematics, I would ask questions to try and understand and eventually I would not be able to ask anymore and I was forced to remain confused.
Inuit mathematics challenges Eurocentric ideas in many ways. Poirier points out many ways Eurocentric ideas are challenged in his article “Teaching Mathematics and the Inuit Community.” The Inuit community are challenging the idea that mathematics is a universal language. They believe that everyone can about it in different ways and still come to the same solution. They also Challenge the idea of it being a universal language because they speak a different language and things may not translate the same way causing confusion. The Inuit community use different teaching methods, unlike the Eurocentric idea of asking students questions whether or not they know the answer the Inuit community uses a teaching method where teachers do not ask students questions if they think they do not have the answer. The Inuit community believes mathematics is the sense you never knew you had and it is about finding ways to solve problems. They believe mathematics is not about the equations that are given it is about learning how to go about problems and solve them. Unlike Eurocentric ideas, they support the idea of finding different ways to solve and go about problems.
References
Poirier, L. (2007). Teaching mathematics and the Inuit community, Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 7(1), p. 53-67.
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