Abstract
Indigenous students in Australia perform poorly on testing measures (MCEETYA, 2009). This is of national concern and a priority for government, as evidenced in the ‘Closing the Gap’ initiative (FaHCSIA, 2009). Geographical location and poverty compound issues of indigeneity, so that Indigenous students in remote locations are most at risk of performing poorly on measures of literacy and numeracy. In this chapter, I seek to challenge the orthodoxy that poor performances among remote/Indigenous students are a consequence of constructs of ability or learning difficulties per se. Rather, I seek to illustrate how the mathematics curriculum delivered to Indigenous students represents a particular cultural form. This is particularly poignant as Australia moves to a national curriculum (National Curriculum Board, 2008). The difficulties in learning mathematics experienced by many Indigenous students can be thought of as a confrontation of language differences (and, by implication, culture). From this perspective, coming to learn mathematics is about ‘cracking the code’ through which mathematical concepts and processes are embedded and relayed, so that learning difficulties are viewed as structural difficulties rather than individual difficulties. By reconceptualising the ‘learning difficulties’ experienced by Indigenous learners in mathematics/numeracy, a more inclusive approach to educational reform can be envisaged and enacted.
Keywords
- Mathematics Education
- School Mathematic
- National Curriculum
- Learning Difficulty
- Language Game
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Notes
- 1.
The data and examples used in this chapter pre-date my employment at Yulara and in no way should be inferred to be representing the Anungu people.
- 2.
Yolgnu country is the north-eastern corner of the Northern Territory, Australia.
- 3.
‘Koori’ and ‘Murri’ are terms used by Aboriginal peoples of the eastern regions of Australia in reference to themselves. ‘Koori’ refers to Aboriginal people from Victoria northwards to approximately halfway through New South Wales (NSW). ‘Murri’ refers to Aboriginal people from midway through NSW to southern Queensland.
- 4.
The Kimberley/Pilbara region is in far north Western Australia.
References
Bernstein, B. (1996). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research and critique. London: Taylor & Francis.
Berry, R., & Hudson, J. (1997). Making the jump: A resource book for teachers of aboriginal students. Kimberleys: Catholic Education Office Kimberly Region.
Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice (R. Nice, Trans.). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power (G. A. M. Raymond, Trans.). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. (1989). Towards a reflexive sociology: A workshop with Pierre Bourdieu. Sociological Theory, 7(1), 26–63.
Cooper, B., & Dunne, M. (1999). Assessing children’s mathematical knowledge: Social class, sex and problem solving. London: Open University Press.
FaHCSIA (Department of Families Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs). (2009). Closing the gap for Indigenous Australians. Accessed April 15, 2009, http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/indigenous/closing_the_gap/default.htm
Harris, P. (1990). Mathematics in a cultural context: Aboriginal perspectives on time, space and money. Geelong: Deakin University Press.
Hudson, T. (1983). Correspondences and numerical differences between disjoint sets. Child Development, 54, 84–90.
Hyde, M., Power, D., & Zevenbergen, R. (1999). Deaf students solving of arithmetic word problems. In J. Truran & K. Truran (Eds.), Making the difference: Proceedings from the 22nd MERGA conference (pp. 275–282). Adelaide: MERGA.
Kanes, C. (1991). Games and language-games: Towards a socially interactive mode for learning mathematics. In F. Furinghetti (Ed.), Proceedings of the 15th PME conference (Vol. 2, pp. 229–236). Assisi, Italy: International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education.
Leder, G. C., Rowley, G., & Brew, C. (1995). Second language learners: Help or hindrance for mathematics achievement? In R. P. Hunting, G. E. Fitzsimons, P. C. Clarkson, & A. J. Bishop (Eds.), Regional collaboration in mathematics education (pp. 425–434). Melbourne: Monash University.
MCEETYA. (2009). National assessment program literacy and numeracy: Achievement in reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy. Canberra: Author.
National Curriculum Board. (2008). National mathematics curriculum: Framing paper. Accessed April 14, 2009, http://www.ncb.org.au/verve/_resources/National_Mathematics_Curriculum_-_Framing_Paper.pdf
Walkerdine, V., & Lucey, H. (1989). Democracy in the kitchen: Regulating mothers and socialising daughters. London: Virago.
Watson, H. (1988). Language and mathematics education for Aboriginal-Australian children. Language and Education, 2(4), 255–273.
Watson, H. (1989). A wittgensteinian view of mathematics: Implications for teachers of mathematics. In N. F. Ellerton & M. A. Clements (Eds.), School mathematics: The challenge to change (pp. 18–30). Geelong: Deakin University Press.
Watson, H., & Chambers, D. W. (1989). Singing the land, signing the land. Geelong, VIC: Deakin University Press.
Willis, S. (2000). Strengthening numeracy: Reducing risk. Improving numeracy learning: Research conference 2000: Proceedings (pp. 3–24). Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical investigations (G. E. M. Anscombe, Trans., 1974 ed.). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Wittgenstein, L. (1967). Remarks on the foundations of mathematics. London: Basil Backwell.
Zevenbergen, R. (2000). ‘Cracking the code’ of mathematics: School success as a function of linguistic, social and cultural background. In J. Boaler (Ed.), Multiple perspectives on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 201–221). New York: JAI/Ablex.
Zevenbergen, R., Hyde, M., & Power, D. (2001). Language, arithmetic word problems and deaf students: Linguistic strategies used by deaf students to solve tasks. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 13(3), 204–218.
Zevenbergen, R., Mousley, J., & Sullivan, P. (2004). Disrupting pedagogic relay in mathematics classrooms: Using open-ended tasks with indigenous students. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 8(4), 391–415.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jorgensen (Zevenbergen), R. (2011). Language, Culture and Learning Mathematics: A Bourdieuian Analysis of Indigenous Learning. In: Wyatt-Smith, C., Elkins, J., Gunn, S. (eds) Multiple Perspectives on Difficulties in Learning Literacy and Numeracy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8864-3_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8864-3_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-8863-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-8864-3
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)