Mathematics Education in Indigenous and Migrational contexts: Storylines, Cultures and Strength-based Pedagogies

Introduction What happens in mathematics teaching, when students have backgrounds from different languages and cultures? Can mathematics contribute to equality and social justice in school? Can the subject itself be enhanced by a diversity of languages and cultures? This project investigates how mathematical education develops in classrooms, where diversity can support, hinder, or challenge learning. We focus classrooms with a high number of languages and cultures, including Norwegian. Indigenous people have, through colonisation, experienced such educational challenges for generations. We now see similar tensions in classrooms with children and teachers from other minority groups. The backdrop for the research project is that we are living in times of social change and migration. Results This project started during the pandemic where we did a large media analysis (Andersson et al 2022). We also interviewed school leaders, teachers, students and community members. During 2022-24 we worked in close participatory research collaborations with four schools in different regions; Finnmark, Trondheim and Oslo. Other schools participate and might be schools where the strength based pedagogies will be tried out in 2024-25. In 2024, we focused on data analysis and development both of positioning theory (see The Routledge International Handbook of Positioning Theory) and strength based pedagogies (in submissions). Dissemination We have so far published 12 articles in journals as ESM, FLM and JMC and 5 chapters in anthologies. To give some examples; in addition to the media analysis (Andersson et al 2022) and handbook chapter (Herbel-Eisenmann, B. et al 2024) storylines about becoming mathematics teachers’ frustrations focus the importance of language in mathematics classrooms, the importance of allowing a diversity of methods when doing mathematics and storylines about issues of students’ invisibility at play in mathematics classrooms (Andersson et al, 2023). The analysis of school leaders’ interviews shows that there is a large need and wish for mother tongue teachers, challenges with languages of instruction and storylines about how to support mathematics teachers complex daily work life. Wishes for “fire soul” teachers were expressed. We are now in the phase of analysing the high number of interviews and observations we have with students of different ages. Both PhD-students, who do their research in our participatory schools completed their well-deserved half way seminars in 2024. They have articles in submission focusing strength based pedagogies in primary and secondary schools. In addition, Wirkola & Andersson (2023) found specific storylines from students in Finnmark. One specifically challenging storyline emerges through talk about the students’ intellect and ability to succeed are constantly undermined. This storyline is formed both by the respondents themselves and by others as school staff who talk about the respondents as being "stupid"; in significant contrast to how the respondents show deep mathematical knowledge at work after school. Also from Finnmark, Simensen et al (2023) showed from a teacher’s perspective that collaborative test situations make a positive change in the students’ results in upper secondary school. “Giving and receiving trust is crucial to learn from collaborative test situations.”, hence recognise each encounter with mathematics as an opportunity to engage and learn, independent of previous achievements or experiences. From a lower secondary teachers’ perspective, Davies & Andersson (2023) found that mathematics teaching inspired by critical mathematics education over time makes a change for students who don’t usually perform well in mathematics. These results are confirmed by the students’ storylines accounted for by Høyer-Hansen & Andersson (2023). Articles we have in progress focuses storylines from newly arrived migrant students’ experiences of learning mathematics. In addition, results are starting to emerge from the sister-project MIME, funded by the Canadian Research Council. Gerbrandt & Wagner’s (2023) work on pivoting storylines support us when continuing moving from storylines towards strength based pedagogies. MIM-conference MIM organized a three-day international conference in Alta in 2022. The three keynote speakers; Dr. le Rough (South Africa), Prof. Nolan (Canada) and Prof. Eisenmann (US) talked about languages, participatory youth methodologies and culturally responsive teaching. Researchers, teachers and master students presented their work, and these presentations developed into articles in two issues of Journal of Mathematics and Culture (Simensen et al 2023 a & b). Master students Five students at USN and four students at UiT have completed their master thesis within the MIM project. NAB: School leaders and teachers participated in a full day workshop in Tromsö. We plan a second workshop 2025. IAB: met at the Alta conference and in regular online meetings

MIM investigates challenges in mathematics education in times of societal changes and movements and promotes education responsive to diversity by first, constituting an arena for immigrant and Sami students’ and teachers’ voices, to be heard and second, through participatory methodologies develop and evaluate strength-based pedagogies, pedagogies building upon individuals’ strengths and assets identified by examining past positive experiences; encouragement of hope and optimism and development of emotional satisfaction - hence moves away from cultural-deficit orientations. MIM addresses how different languages and cultures may challenge or support learning of two groups in Norway who have documented extra challenges in mathematics, namely Indigenous and migrated students, in addition to the high number of all students who report disliking, or hating the subject. These challenges are local but reflect global trends. They significantly affect our children's learning, relationships, identities, and their possibilities for future work life. The main objective is to develop new scientific knowledge about how mathematics education may contribute to equity and social justice - and vice versa. At the heart of the research are students' and teachers' storylines about languages and cultures and how they may hinder, challenge and/or support learning. Through juxtaposing contexts, we will further understand students’ experiences and hence pedagogical possibilities, within Norway and then connect with research from Canada and USA. MIM is to be situated historically and culturally, draws on and further examine work that has shown positive impact on groups marginalized by policies and practices in educational contexts; and will be done, reflexively, in partnership with the peoples and communities who the work is supposed to benefit. MiM has all of these characteristics and will contribute to mathematics education empirically, theoretically, methodologically, and practically.