Jenny Amaranathan and Phil Kane

Our experiences with Maori Pedagogies alongside Adult Numeracy ProfessionalDevelopment

He waka eke noa

a waka on which anyone may embark

AbstractWe have been working with Whare Wananga and Maori Private Trainingorganisations to provide professional development for kaiako and kaitiaki inNumeracy Workshops. As numeracy developers, our roles have seen usintroduce the Adult Learning Progressions through practical activities to engage the participants with Number Sense, Measurement and  Statistical Reasoning. We have been drawn to the kaupapa of these organisations and as a result of these encounters and the ako we have experienced, we both feel that andour Numeracy mahi has been enhanced by some of the Maori pedagogies we have learned about. We both admit to being at early stages of our learning, though recognise that we can keep engaging with these pedagogies, particularly as we promote embedding Numeracy through hands-on activities, and by inviting people to share their own strategies. 

• Openings

• Experiences of Numeracy mahi alongside some Maori pedagogies

• Issues around Maths anxieties

• A statistical venture

• A Measurement understanding

• A challenge to grow underpinning Number Knowledge

• Discussion around what we have covered

Our experiences so far

• What we are doing in Adult Numeracy - how this relates to Te Whare Tapa Wha and models taha wairua, taha tinana, taha whanau, and taha hinengaro• Encourage collaborative mahi between pairs of learners

or pairs and groups, building confidence • Numeracy with a view to te poutama tou, - some parts new learning, new challenges - other parts consolidating these understandings• Not losing sight of the holism in these models, the big

picture intended, the context/problem needing a solution

Anxiety around previous Maths learning

Attitudes and beliefs – resistance & blocks

The legacy of poor understandings from a variety of reasons (some compounded) and the lingering effect(s) on taha wairua of adult learners

What to do about it?

Some questions

A scale, in a continuum with others,

stand at a place to match your feeling

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 (poor/hate it) (great/love it)

• How much do you like Maths?

• How good do you think you are at using Maths in your everyday life?

A statistical activity

One or two teaching ideas:

You are an expert in this gathering, of your own knowledge – our own graph

Some data from around the world

A measurement concept – area

What do adult learners know about area?

What do we measure this in?

How big is a square metre?

Where do we use these - ?

Constructing a rule . . . how, why

Number sense – under it all

• What are some fundamental things we hope our adult learners need to know?

- How to sequence numbers (e.g. which is bigger, 1841 or 1184? which year is earlier, 1841 or 1184?)- How to recognise Place Value (e.g. how many tens are in 1843?)- Having fluency with number facts (e.g. Show why 4 6 = 3 8)

• An activity which engages all three

Tying this together – your thoughts

• What do you identify this with?

• Do these lead to deeper understandings . . .

by acknowledging adult learners’ wairua, working alongside / supporting others as whanau, and actively engaging them with taha tinana,

can we enhance for our tauira, taha hinengaro, a deeper sense of understanding numeracy concepts?

... working alongside these pedagogies, these enhance

adult numeracy learning ... . . . So do these encourage good

teaching anyway . . . ?

Our own journeys, our ongoing PD . . .

In advice given about Professional Development

Kerka (2003) suggests that PD should

encourage critical reflection and lead to

- changing your frame of reference,

- discarding habits of mind,

- seeking alternatives

- and acting differently.