KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – In this weekend’s weekend video Karen Hudson, principal of Auburn Drive High School (ADHS), announces a new grade 10 Africentric mathematics course at her school, and explains what it looks like and why it matters so much.
The grade 10 math course from a curriculum perspective is no different than the ones taught elsewhere, Hudson explains. Except, it isn’t the same at all.
“We’re using the same outcomes. All we are doing is enhancing it by infusing it with our own lived experiences, the community experiences. We are looking at it through an equity lens, through an Afrocentric lens, and we are centering our students at the middle of the conversation. So they can say, I am not a spectator, I am a player, and that’s what we’re doing with the math.”
Currently, students who self-identify as being of African descent are underrepresented in academic math courses at ADHS. Analysis of Grade 10 enrollment over the past 4 years shows that students who identify as being of African descent have been more likely to enroll in math courses such as Math Essentials and Math at Work, and those who enrolled in Math 10 had a lower rate of meeting with success.
“I want you to feel good about the skin you’re in, I want you to come with a sense of pride, and I want you to leave with that sense of pride,” Hudson says.
Check out this weekend’s video. We’ve heard a lot lately about the politics of education, and most of it pretty depressing really. It’s time for a little reminder of some of the great work happening at our schools right now.
If you can, please support the Nova Scotia Advocate so that it can continue to cover issues such as poverty, racism, exclusion, workers’ rights and the environment in Nova Scotia. A pay wall is not an option, since it would exclude many readers who don’t have any disposable income at all. We rely entirely on one-time donations and a tiny but mighty group of dedicated monthly sustainers.
–
