Idaho Association of Scholars

  From p. 26 of  A Pathway to EquitableMath Instruction  which  seems  to be a California state education funded project: Also, many teachers prefer to teach procedural fluency so students engage with more complex problem solving because they believe that they have to do the basic, or computation, skills before they can apply the mathematics. But that idea also  reinforces objectivity by requiring linear processing , which is oftentimes not necessary. This is related to sequential thinking, without interrogating the need for that particular sequence of learning. In addition, many teachers are more comfortable teaching skills-based work, and if they do that more often, they are reinforcing their own right to comfort. They seem to be saying that BIPOCs can't learn basic math skills and that math is not objective. Can anyone think of anything less racist and culturally related than "x+20 = 40; solve for x"? They are preparing BIPOCs for a future that assumes t...

   Meriwhether v.Hartop et al. (6th Cir. 2021) : At the start of the school year, Shawnee State emailed the faculty informing them that they had to refer to students by their “preferred pronoun[s].” Id. at 1471–72. Meriwether asked university officials for more details about the new pronoun policy, and the officials confirmed that professors would be disciplined if they “refused to use a pronoun that reflects a student’s self-asserted gender identity.” Id. at 1472. What if a professor had moral or religious objections? That didn’t matter: The policy applied “regardless of the professor’s convictions or views on the subject.” Id. When Meriwether asked to see the revised policy, university officials pointed him to the school’s existing policy prohibiting discrimination “because of . . . gender identity.” R. 34-1, Pg. ID 1509. That policy applies to all of the university’s “employees, students, visitors, agents and volunteers”; it applies at both academic and non-academic events;...

  I just received an invitation to  this event : Part 2 of Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Math and Science, a free webinar series presented by The Robertson Program and Kikinoo'amaadawin. About this Event Indigenous land-based teachings, when carried out in collaboration with community Elders or Knowledge Keepers, can provide rich learning experiences for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Educators in this session will be provided with ideas and connections in mathematics and science using Indigenous land-based experiences. Learn how to connect these activities to the current curriculum! How gratifying that the Elders or Knowledge Keepers have to be involved.  For some reason, "Knowledge Keeper" makes me think of someone in  1984 . The other dangerous implication is that the methods of learning math and science that work for every other population (regardless of race) is too  difficult  for the indigenous peoples of the world.  Europeans are ...