Does Mathematics Education in Australia devalue Indigenous Culture? Indigenous perspectives and non-Indigenous reflections

Abstract

Chris and Leesa are two Indigenous people who have come to mathematics education through their involvement in the struggle for Indigenous rights; Chris from being an Indigenous researcher with a PhD in Applied Mathematics and Leesa from a degree in Commerce and experience publishing material on Indigenous culture. Tom and Annette are two non-Indigenous people who have come to Indigenous culture through working in schools in Indigenous communities; both are mathematics educators and researchers. This paper attempts to describe the profound effect of Chris and Leesa's perspectives that mathematics education devalues Indigenous culture (see Matthews, 2003) on Tom and Annette's Indigenous mathematics-education projects at QUT. It indicates the potential of partnerships to empower Indigenous research. Note: The paper is written in heteroglossic form: Chris and Leesa's Indigenous perspectives are written in normal font; Tom and Annette's reactions and reflections are written in italics.