Abstract
One of the key strategies when teaching mathematics to Indigenous students is to connect the mathematics they are intended to learn to their experience. To illustrate one approach to connecting learning to students’ experience, this chapter uses two lesson sequences focusing on geometry that were developed collaboratively by the authors. The lesson sequences were taught by the second author in a remote Indigenous community school. The intention was to use students' familiarity with geometrical concepts to build confidence and success, and connections between mathematics and schooling on one hand and students’ lives on the other. In the lesson sequences the students engaged actively and successively in significant and challenging tasks that address key aspects of the learning of formal geometry. The introductory pedagogical steps to connect the subsequent experiences to students’ experiences were important.
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Sullivan, P., van Riel, N. (2013). Building Confidence and Fostering Engagement in Aboriginal Learners. In: Jorgensen, R., Sullivan, P., Grootenboer, P. (eds) Pedagogies to Enhance Learning for Indigenous Students. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4021-84-5_9
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