Finding the ‘Space Between in Developing Mathematical Curriculum and Pedagogy Across Cultures: The Mathematical Ways of the Northern Ute
Article (Faculty180)
In this article, the authors describe changes in their insights a decade after they wrote about how mathematics was used traditionally in the culture of an indigenous peopl
e, the Northern Ute. The transition involved a significant reframing of perception shifting their notion of math as a noun to one where math is a verb. The personal, professional, and instructional implications of this paradigm shift invited the authors to consider where meaning was taking place as the instigator of the math acted with an object. They discovered the Ute perspective illustrated that the important event happened ‘in the space between’. The authors discuss the importance of teachers understanding this position and its effect on teaching and learning.
