Mathematics and Culture in Micronesia: Integrating Societal Experiences (MACIMISE)
Growing out of ideas offered by the mentors who worked on the recently completed MENTOR Project (2002-2008), the goal of the MACIMISE Project is to capture/uncover/recover mathematical ideas that exist in the everyday local practices of the dominant language groupings across the region where PREL has service centers. Once these mathematical understandings from each language group (Palauan, Yapese, Chamorro, Chuukese, Pohnpeian, Kosraean, Marshallese, Samoan, and Hawaiian) have been identified, the idea is to then turn the ideas into curriculum materials for pilot use in grades 1, 4, and 7/8 in the home jurisdiction of each language.
A Description of the Work
MACIMISE is seeking 2-3 individuals from each jurisdiction to be the ‘prime’ searchers and curriculum developers. Across the region that amounts to 20 participants who have very strong interest in mathematics, experience in teaching mathematics (K-20) and who are also knowledgeable about the cultural practices of their home island. Once selected, the participants will be enrolled in a Masters or Doctorate degree program through the University of Hawai‘i—Mānoa. These programs will be offered on-line through UH using the Elluminate software. This means that the participants will be able to ‘stay home’, keep their jobs, support their families, and carry out community responsibilities, and still purse advanced degrees. These graduate students/curriculum developers/researchers/informants (various names depending on the role they are playing at any particular time) will be selected by the end of April 2010. The Project will cover all degree program costs for the 20 participants.
MACIMISE will run for five years. During the first three years, the participants will be tracking down and identifying the mathematics in local practices, developing draft curriculum materials, and as graduate students taking ten courses.
During the final two years of the project, now acting as curriculum developers/researchers, the participants will pilot test (during year 4) the curriculum materials developed during years 1-3 of the project, and then in the final year (five), formally conduct controlled experiments on the ‘refined’ curriculum units.
From the Project Director
Conversations I’ve had as I traveled across the Western Pacific region during three weeks with educational leaders, PREL service staff, and community elders lead me to believe there is a great deal of excitement about the Project because of its focus on local practices, local languages, and the preservation of mathematical ideas associated with these practices and languages. Educational leaders felt that the goals of the project melded well with the goals of the local educational authorities. Elders supported the idea of preserving ideas, concepts and languages elicited from everyday practices, past and present, that were in danger of being lost, and using these as the springboard for more relevant ways for the children to learn the mathematics of the world beyond their home islands. Not only did the elders pledge their support in assisting the local participants first in their role as graduate students recovering the indigenous mathematics, but also, secondly, in the vetting of the curriculum units developed for accuracy and appropriateness in terms of cultural authenticity. PREL Service center staff responded enthusiastically to assisting with local arrangements for the technological aspects of the offering of the courses via Elluminate, and to assisting during years 4 and 5 with the implementation and testing of the curriculum units in the schools.
MACIMISE promises to be a Project each local community can be a part of and provide the support for the local participants in activities important to the preservation and advancement of their local practices and culture.
Contact
For additional information, contact Sandy Dawson, Director, at dawsons@prel.org.
Contact PREL
Pacific Resources for Education and Learning
Phone:
(808) 441-1300
U.S. Toll-free Phone:
(800) 377-4773
AskPREL
Phone:
(808) 441-1300
U.S. Toll-free Phone:
(800) 377-4773
AskPREL