Two UBC Mathematics faculty (Mark MacLean and Wayne Nagata) initiated a Teachers Circle on Aboriginal Mathematics Education to explore various mathematics topics encountered in teaching. The goal is to support the teachers as they learn to implement effective teaching strategies for Aboriginal students. Meeting several times during the past few years, this program is aimed at teachers and has included one-on-one interactions with participating teachers in their respective schools.
A Summer Math Institute for in-service elementary school teachers of Aboriginal students was held at UBC in August 2008, and in December 2009 a professional development day helped teachers become familiar with the JUMP program, to complement workshops held at other times of the year. The aim of these workshops was to help teachers build their classroom math skills and to teach diverse classes more effectively. In September 2010 the Math department hosted two teacher's workshops on How to Reach and Teach Every Child, based on the JUMP program and presented by John Mighton and Liz Barrett. A total of 48 teachers attended the two workshops. Two more of these workshops were held in August 2011.
We look forward to future workshops for teachers, thanks to the efforts of Melania Alvarez and Mark MacLean.