‘WE EXPECT YOU TO DO WELL’

51 counting sticks. Aaron’s project involved not only calculating the probability of different throws of the dice, but also looking at how the geometry of the bowl affected how the dice would fall.

For Aaron, it was particularly meaningful because the bowls, filled with water, had traditionally been used as a way of reading visions, and to settle disputes or make decisions. During colonization, priests would drill holes into the bowls — purportedly to make them more “aerodynamic” during a game of Waltes — while in actuality inhibiting their spiritual purpose. “The priests’ claim was kind of ridiculous, if you understand physics,” explains Aaron. The project not only had him doing quite complex math — it gave him a new tool to understand and critique a historical example of racism.

The right of Mi’kmaw communities in Nova Scotia to govern their own education system was formally recognized by federal legislation in 1998. One of the first things the chiefs did was ask themselves what it would mean to create an education system across their 13 communities that respected their language and culture. Even the organization’s name, Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey, reflects a deep shift in philosophy, describing “the process of educating our people from birth to grave.”

The perfect storm of teaching math in a system that is committed to overcoming a damaging legacy of colonialism, by a committed group of mostly Indigenous educators working with strong support from the local university, has helped create a model for First Nations communities across Canada — and for schools everywhere.

According to John Jerome Paul, MK’s director of programs, high expectations have been a crucial part of their success. “There is no ‘hoping’ you will survive in our program. We expect you to do well. We’ve helped you develop those core skills — now it’s really you that needs to take the next steps.”

Through high expectations and higher-order thinking extended to students at a systems level, MK has made great strides in closing achievement gaps. In 2016, 87 per cent of Mi’kmaw students in those communities graduated from high school. That result is more than double the auditor general’s 2011 assessment of the graduation rate of First Nations students on reserves across Canada (41 per cent), and within one per cent of the graduation rate of all students in Nova Scotia.