Oppression in mathematics

Throughout my schooling mathematics was a class where there was either a right or a wrong answer and a set way of getting to that answer. This way of teaching could be oppressive to students who learn in a different way than others. Different ways of thinking about a math problems weren’t taught or encouraged because the way that was taught in class was considered as the best way. Everyone was expected to do math in the same way. As a student coming from a francophone school and comparing what I know about math to English students, I’ve realized that the processes are always the same no matter it be in French, English or another language and the same equation will result in the exact same answer.

There are several ways in which Inuit mathematics challenge Eurocentric ideas about the purposes of math and the way that it is taught. Inuit math focuses on the more practical aspects of life. They learn math in order to do everyday things and they learn it in a way that will help them in doing so.