Maths+Culture

Many fear mathematics! In rural Sub Sahara Africa, mathematics is traditionally viewed as a “hard, difficult and elitist” subject. Some complex concepts and theories, mean that slow learners or the disadvantaged (many times the disabled, girls, and children in poverty or war-torn areas) struggle to understand the subject. Some groups are further challenged: girls for instance are at times distracted from concentration by home chores, family obligations, health issues etc. Several rural communities think that the subject is for boys mainly (a). Over the years, the resultant poor numeracy skills have become a greater barrier to economic and social-well being.

Yet mathematics is useful in everyday life: from walking, cooking to shopping and playing. It is the language for logic, an engine for innovation, the foundation for problem-solving and critical thinking skills, a cornerstone for any career:  more so given the fact that the today’s jobs are varnishing, while tomorrow’s jobs are yet not known. The cognitive, innovative and entrepreneurial skills gained from mathematics, prepare children for the unknown industry shift that is coming with technological transformation. Mathematics is a foundation for STEM subjects, which in turn yields significant returns for an economy.

In 2006 it was reported that "Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for the world’s highest increase in total primary school enrollment" with more than 23 million children entering the classroom for the first time. The PISA - Global studies, a survey by OECD across 34 countries in 2012, showed that 59% of 15 - 16 year olds fear math class (b). In Sub Sahara Africa, most of learners perform far below the international average: 31% of Grade 6 students are classified as innumerate.

In Uganda for example, 38.8% of grade 6 students are classified as innumerate, and the results of 2018 teachers exams show that also teachers, find mathematics the most difficult of subjects (d).

“Numeracy skills are … poor - only 2 percent of students in Uganda could solve a simple, age-appropriate mathematics problem by the end of P4. According to the last national assessment of progress in education (NAPE) administered in 2014,… less than half of the P6 pupils have acquired most of the competencies in Numeracy and English Literacy specified in the P6 curriculum…

Teachers suffer from lack of basic subject knowledge and pedagogical skills, e.g. only 21 percent of grade 4 math teachers could compare fractions and 25 percent could assess students’ abilities.”(e).  In rural and disadvantaged areas, teaching mathematics is further compromised by poor physical conditions in schools and inadequate teaching and learning materials, shortage of well-qualified and trained teachers (a). There has also been a recent influx of 1.2million refugees, many of whom are children of school-going age.

The World Bank observes that children born today, can be only 38% as productive when they grow up because of poor quality education, less school years and the reality that some of the curriculum does not respond to the needs of those who do not have pre-primary education.

In Uganda “currently, one of three children will survive to primary 7 and 15% who make it to primary 7 are unable to do simple arithmetic. At secondary level, learning outcomes are one of (the) declining trends. A proportion of grade 2 students rated proficient … in Mathematics dropped from 69.4% in 2008 to 41.5% in 2013”

US Ambassador, speaking at Ministry of Education Sector review (g)

References:

a) The World Bank, 2016 Mathematics Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Status, Challenges, and Opportunities

b) OECD – The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development . PISA 2012 Results: Ready to Learn (Volume III): Students’ Engagement, Drive and Self-Beliefs. Paris: OECD Publishing; 2013.

c) PASEC, 2015. PASEC2014 Education System Performance in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa: Competencies and Learning Factors in Primary Education. 

d) Kyambogo University, 2019, Grade III Primary Teacher Exams - results for PTCs and NTCs

e) The 13th Uganda Economic Update Report – World Bank, May 2019

f) SACMEQ, 2010a. SACMEQ III Project Results: Pupil achievement levels in reading and Mathematics. SACMEQ Working Document 1. Available at: http://www.sacmeq. org/?q=sacmeq-projects/sacmeq-iii/reports

g) Pupils wasting 3 to 7 years of primary School, New Vision, Patience Ahimbisibwe, Pg.6, sept 4, 2019. Daily Monitor.

We have developed an innovative mathematics teaching approach that uses learning aids drawn from the local culture to explain and simplify concepts to children. We have also developed a database tool to track the learning and progression in the class.

Even if they are not going to school, children in rural Sub-Sahara Africa make, know and use cultural artifacts from the environment or at home. Many of these cultural artifacts are intrinsically very mathematical. Examples of crafts and trades include:- Hair Braiding, Making Mats, Weaving Baskets, Knitting Table clothes, Making Toys (dolls and balls), Cultural dance etc. The homes in disadvantaged areas all have a bit of culture surrounding them. Our Intervention asks the parents and students to bring these artifacts to class. These are then used by the teacher to explain mathematics. In the process the community is propagating both culture and mathematics.  This approach is LOWCOST and SUSTAINABLE.

Theory of Change:

Education systems are culturally embedded and, therefore, difficult to improve without understanding actions, beliefs, and attitudes related to education existing within the culture. Culture therefore plays a role in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Our intervention specifically dwells on the ways culture could benefit learners from disadvantaged parts of the world, including those in emergencies. At a societal level, culture can act as a medium of communication of mathematics, can be a glue, a transition bridge, and a liberator.

The importance of using locally available materials when teaching maths has been revealed in findings from 15 years of research into mathematics education in rural settings. At Rutindo School, a primary school in Masindi, Western Uganda, we have refined this approach by involving local teachers and learners in the process of scouting around their homes and environment to identify cultural objects, and creatively linking them to mathematical concepts. Rutindo supported teachers to translate these links into lesson plans that employ new methods of teaching primary maths concepts. (a)

We have packaged our intervention into a lesson Planning guide, a training program for teachers, and a scalable after-school mathematics session. Through these programs, the beneficiaries, (the learners) gain concrete and abstract problem solving skills and critical thinking abilities, to help understand mathematics today, while laying the foundations to make them more employable and entrepreneurial for the future.

The teaching approach uses cultural artifacts and local objects to demystify and reinforce the importance of math to disadvantaged children:

-       Change attitudes towards mathematics.

-       Support practicing teachers

-       Encourage student self learning

References:

a) Janet Kaahwa (2011) The Role of Culture in Rural Ugandan Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 5:1, 48-62, DOI: 10.1080/15595692.2011.534402

b) Janet Kaahwa - The Experiences of Ugandan Females in Mathematics, www.sjpub.org/sjpsych/sjpsych-...

Note: Dr. Janet Kaahwa is one of the project founders

Uganda has 8.6 million children in 19,718 Primary Schools - 61% of which are government owned schools while the rest are privately owned. 50% of the learners are female. There are 202,617 registered primary teachers in the country, giving a learner to teacher ratio of 1:43. But 68% of the learners do not have adequate sitting and writing space (a).

Currently we are completing the first pilot year of our project. We have trained 30 teachers who are teaching 1042 children in North West Uganda:  Pakanyi area, Masindi district. These children from mainly peasant families which earn less than 1 dollars a day, usually from farming. Most children are between the ages of 3 to 16. Girls account for 40%.

We focus on children because they are the future of our economy. Unfortunately, our current workforce is unprepared for the realities of the future. We are releasing graduates for jobs that will no longer existing in the next 10 years. Many do not even make it through school: a 2017 UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report (b), notes that in almost half of countries surveyed, less than one in two youth complete secondary school. Furthermore “between 51% to 63% of the graduates (from East Africa’s Universities) were found to be ‘half-baked’, ‘unfit for jobs ‘ and ‘lacking job market skills’. The worst records were in Uganda (63%) and Tanzania (61%).” (c)

We believe that giving children a firm foundation in fundamentals like mathematics, better equips them for the uncertainties ahead.

References:

a) Education Abstract 2016. The education abstract is a statistical report detailing the findings of the Annual School Census 2016, Ministry of Education and Sports – Uganda.

b) 2017 UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/imag...

c) A survey by Inter-University Council for East Africa 2014, reported by https://www.insidehighered.com...

Rutindo is a community School bridging disadvantaged children from rural communities to better education for more opportunities. We run a private nursery and primary school in Pakanyi, Masindi, which was founded in 2006. The schools are currently managed by a head mistress with a teaching and non-teaching staff of 20, under the supervision of the founding directors. The schools have 300 children.

Our Vision is to offer children of pre-primary and primary school going age foundation Knowledge in literacy, numeracy, sciences and social studies leading to a firm foundation of their schooling and better opportunities in higher education.

We have 3 brilliant minds behind the database application: Faustine in charge of user-interface, James Alituhikya, who has experience with google and amazon analytics programming, and Solomon Metta, who has been developing mobile applications for the last 7 years.

We have a track record. We are team that runs a small community School bridging disadvantaged children from rural communities to better education for more opportunities. The schools are currently managed by a head mistress with a teaching and non-teaching staff of 20, under the supervision of the founding directors. The schools have 200 children.

Our Vision is to offer children of pre-primary and primary school going age foundation Knowledge in literacy, numeracy, sciences and social studies leading to a firm foundation of their schooling and better opportunities in higher education.

We have received recognition from the Australia Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, for our efforts to improve education in emergencies. We have successfully run a program that reached over 1000 children in rural Uganda with an interactive mathematics lesson. The change in the attitudes towards mathematics in these children and their teachers has been the biggest transformation

The end beneficiary are the children, but the conduit for impact is the teacher, whom we would like to reach through the school (because of institutional advantages. Most of the schools want better mathematics performance results, more STEM Alumni and enhanced reputation). We will also engage education-sector Institutions that would be interested in this channel of reach and impact

Our Value Proposition

- Professional Development for teachers (and Certification)

- Increased Professional Standing

- Opportunity for Income Augmentation through a franchise Maths club framework

- Learners gain comprehension in mathematics, and skills in problem solving, critical thinking

Our Strategy is to access the mathematics teaching in schools using the following tactics:

1) Illustrate to schools, teachers and parents, the need to improve quality of teaching

2) Demonstrate the impact and success of our past interventions

3) Interested schools purchase the training program for their teachers (payment could be by the school, donor organization or parents community)

4) Trained teachers go on to form Maths+Culture clubs, (a franchise model that allows trained / certified teachers, to conduct after-school maths sessions for learners in their local community)

5) Through a licensing structure, trained teachers, access varied support services, mentorship and followup in order to maintain quality and brand.

In this format, we generate funds from the schools, that allow us to continue to operate while reaching more and more children through the remote franchising structure.

To lower operation costs

- the training sessions will be conducted on a per case basis, where instructors from a pre-approved list are call upon.

- Certain modules in the training will be packaged and delivered in recorded video format so as to reduce human resource cost

- The entire essence of the innovation is to use locally available teaching resources; this in turn will lower costs.

We have completed 2 pilots, and have been asked by the Ministry of Education - Uganda, to scale up to other regions. We have engaged various stakeholders (including teachers and teacher-trainings, children and parents) in refining the product.

The Model is to spread a new teaching approach through a series of intense community-based, teacher trainings, that deliver an innovative lesson planning guide.

The lesson planning guide has been structured into a format that is applicable to the curriculum in the different countries in the region.

The main Program Activities run as follows for each teacher training cycle:

• Developing a framework and strategy for the programme activities

• Identifying cultural objects, which can showcase mathematical concepts.

• Using the new Methods of teaching, incorporate cultural artifacts in selected Primary Maths concepts / topics.

• Test methods with select users (learners)

• Projects to garner buy-in for new methods with target schools and institution

• Setting up control group (classrooms to monitor that will not receive culturally relevant mathematics instruction)

• Piloting: Selecting and Training primary school Teachers in the use of new mathematics lessons’ delivery methods

• Scaling: Delivering Mathematics lessons using the new delivery methods in selected regions.

• Iteration: Adapt the approach as we progress for better results.

• Administrative Activities

• Monitoring Evaluation and Learning activities such as assessing the students’ performance

We are going to market and share our approach with institutions that work in difficult places and areas, because out tools are suitable in context of emergencies / disadvantage. We are also developing a tailor made curriculum with mathematics for specific careers, so that even youth can appreciate the simplicity and relevance of maths in everyday life.

We need help

In rural areas, the reality is that most teachers and parents are not as tech-literate nor connected to the internet. The schools are under funded, neglected, inefficient and lose human capital to their urban counterparts. So our approach is strategically hands-on, incorporating context specific needs, and draws from locally available resources. Although this is mainly ‘analogue’ in nature, we have also integrated some technology to

1. Tap into and formalize the existing teacher networks,
2. Create teacher workgroups that build and motivate each other
3. Empower the schools to monitor and evaluate the new interactive teaching and its impact
4. Lower training costs, through use of videos in some sessions

Our Solution uses already existing aids (culture is all around us). It is therefore a welcome route for families and communities to support heritage, preserve good traditions and strengthen culture. Culture is an asset that every household has - even a migrant family. The use of culture in the classroom is a language that all including children in minority groups, will understand: it is also a route to involve the parents, guardians, and local community in learning / teaching their children (participation). It therefore builds a sense of ownership and makes the intervention sustainable.

In the first pilot we have already seen a tremendous change in attitude, and improvement in performance of the learners. Both teachers and learner found the program to be engaging, and interactive, and this has garnered enthusiasm and interest. However the most important seed being planted is the innovative thinking among the teachers, and the analytical skills among the learners.

This approach is also a low-cost route because many artifacts are made from local and free resources. For example a ball from banana leaves, a mat from papyrus, braiding your own hair. (In some schools, there has been a secondary benefit of passing on a skill or trade of craft making). But perhaps the best advantage of culture is the simplicity and ease with which it illustrates particularly difficult maths / concepts: it makes maths a fun game, a joy, a basket, a hair piece, a clothe, a dance... (the learner now realises why it is important).

FLEXIBILITY: 
The program includes an assessment module at various stages, in order to gauge the arithmetic skills and deficiencies of children as they progress. This will inform teachers on how to adjust the teaching aids to suit the different learning levels of the children. 

At the micro level, we are reskilling teachers with tools to make them more attractive to (and more effective for) their employers – the schools. This creates economic opportunity for an under utilized trade and generates long-term social impact. At a macro level, we are cultivating innovation. We would like to show both learners and their teachers, that mathematics is apart of everyday life. It is beautiful and relevant. It is a skill that they will need in order to progress and build a career.

During the pilot 1 in 2018, we trained 30 teachers who in turn reached over 1042 children in 4 schools, changing attitudes to the subject.

In the next phase, we hope to scale up to the other 3 regions in the country, and reach 1 million children through 10,000 teachers. Focus is on primary school going children from disadvantaged homes; (rural areas, poverty stricken, warn-torn, displaced, in drought...)

By Year 4 - 5, we will have completed modularization for the service and plan to cross to the regional countries (Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya) and reach over 5 million children.

The Program will have a team of Monitoring Evaluation Learning officers, alongside a curriculum department that assesses the progression of the innovation. The following resources will be used to track the innovation

At Goal level:

End Line Surveys and Monitoring Reports will be used to track whether there is a positive mindset change towards mathematics among rural-based primary school Children.

Theses will also include study of statistics of Primary Leaving Examinations, admissions of students from target schools

At the macro level:

• Proportion of learners mentioning mathematics as their favourite subject.

• Proportion of learners actively participating in classes ( Number of learners asking or responding to at least 1 question in class Level of engagement in the class )

• Number of primary school children in the program who continue on to secondary school and pursue STEM

• Number of primary schools that have adopted new delivery methods and steps of instruction in the New teaching methods for Primary School.

• Number of teachers who have gone through the training for the new methods.

• Number of lessons being conducted using the new learning methods.

 A comparison will be made of results from intervention schools versus those from “control” classrooms (who not receiving culturally relevant maths instruction)

• Inclusion and Performance ratios will be compared.

At the micro level the following indicators will be used.

1. Percentage of teachers with positive attitude to mathematics

2. Percentage of teachers with positive attitudes towards delivery of mathematics using teaching aids.

3. Percentage of learners with positive attitude to mathematics

4. Percentage of learners attending mathematics, compared to numbers of those attending other subjects

5. Percentage of learners showing/reporting an improvement in their mathematics performance

 6. Percent change in average / mean performance assessment results

7. Percent of students whose performance results improved from assessment X to assessment Y to assessment Z…

Evidence will be

- a hard and softcopy of the lesson planning Guide available at the school and in the project office

- Number of instructional tools / methods developed for use as part of the new Mathematics teaching approach for Primary School

Average score in the pre and post test assessment for the teachers being trained will be studied.

Measuring the students’ preferred culturally relevant method of instruction (a question on their exams)

Numbers of Teachers, schools and communities that accept / embrace the new methods. (Average score in the pre and post test assessment)

Measuring the students’ preferred culturally relevant method of instruction (a question on their exams).

Theory of Change:

Education systems are culturally embedded and, therefore, difficult to improve without understanding actions, beliefs, and attitudes related to education existing within the culture. Culture therefore plays a role in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Our intervention specifically dwells on the ways culture could benefit learners from disadvantaged parts of the world, including those in emergencies. At a societal level, culture can act as a medium of communication of mathematics, can be a glue, a transition bridge, and a liberator.

The importance of using locally available materials when teaching maths has been revealed in findings from 15 years of research into mathematics education in rural settings. At Rutindo School, a primary school in Masindi, Western Uganda, we have refined this approach by involving local teachers and learners in the process of scouting around their homes and environment to identify cultural objects, and creatively linking them to mathematical concepts. Rutindo supported teachers to translate these links into lesson plans that employ new methods of teaching primary maths concepts. (a)

We have packaged our intervention into a lesson Planning guide, a training program for teachers, and a scalable after-school mathematics session. Through these programs, the beneficiaries, (the learners) gain concrete and abstract problem solving skills and critical thinking abilities, to help understand mathematics today, while laying the foundations to make them more employable and entrepreneurial for the future.

The teaching approach uses cultural artifacts and local objects to demystify and reinforce the importance of math to disadvantaged children:

-       Change attitudes towards mathematics.

-       Support practicing teachers

-       Encourage student self learning

References:

a) Janet Kaahwa (2011) The Role of Culture in Rural Ugandan Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 5:1, 48-62, DOI: 10.1080/15595692.2011.534402

b) Janet Kaahwa - The Experiences of Ugandan Females in Mathematics, www.sjpub.org/sjpsych/sjpsych-...

Note: Dr. Janet Kaahwa is one of the project founders

We have developed a mathematics teaching approach that uses learning aids drawn from local culture, and would like to packaged it into a Database tool on a tablet (ipad or phone), for teachers to use simplifying math concepts to children.

The Database Tool will have the following features:

School Monitoring reports, Project Activity Reports, Teachers’ Schemes, Lesson plans Reports from Target schools will be used to check whether to practical ways of teaching selected mathematics topics to primary students are being used. There should be evidence of use of cultural artifacts from the local communities.

The desired outcomes to track include Schemes of Work, Lesson Plans, Math Assessments, Attendance records Base line Survey End line survey

Outputs:

The following will be delivered through the App: 

-       Concept Report

-       Methods Kit

-       Lesson Planning Guide

-       Participants’ Register

-       Participants’ Feedback

-       Training report with assessment results.

-       Assessment tests

-       Lesson Registers

-       Lesson Plans

-       Assessment Reports

The APP will have tools of assessment ranging from interviews and surveys, to anonymous inquiries, and observation checklists.

60% of our team are ladies.

The Founder is Elderly and handicapped

Our team is composed of people from a various ethnic backgrounds.

We have a policy on inclusion and a code of conduct. These help us to spread the culture of tolerance in our staff, contractors and partners.

The end beneficiary are the children, but the conduit for impact is the teacher, whom we would like to reach through the school (because of institutional advantages. Most of the schools want better mathematics performance results, more STEM Alumni and enhanced reputation). We will also engage education-sector Institutions that would be interested in this channel of reach and impact

Our Value Proposition

- Professional Development for teachers (and Certification)

- Increased Professional Standing

- Opportunity for Income Augmentation through a franchise Maths club framework

- Learners gain comprehension in mathematics, and skills in problem solving, critical thinking

Our Strategy is to access the mathematics teaching in schools using the following tactics:

1) Illustrate to schools, teachers and parents, the need to improve quality of teaching

2) Demonstrate the impact and success of our past interventions

3) Interested schools purchase the training program for their teachers (payment could be by the school, donor organization or parents community)

4) Trained teachers go on to form Maths+Culture clubs, (a franchise model that allows trained / certified teachers, to conduct after-school maths sessions for learners in their local community)

5) Through a licensing structure, trained teachers, access varied support services, mentorship and followup in order to maintain quality and brand.

In this format, we generate funds from the schools, that allow us to continue to operate while reaching more and more children through the remote franchising structure.

To lower operation costs

- the training sessions will be conducted on a per case basis, where instructors from a pre-approved list are call upon.

- Certain modules in the training will be packaged and delivered in recorded video format so as to reduce human resource cost

- The entire essence of the innovation is to use locally available teaching resources; this in turn will lower costs.

We have completed 2 pilots, and have been asked by the Ministry of Education - Uganda, to scale up to other regions. We have engaged various stakeholders (including teachers and teacher-trainings, children and parents) in refining the product.

The Model is to spread a new teaching approach through a series of intense community-based, teacher trainings, that deliver an innovative lesson planning guide.

The lesson planning guide has been structured into a format that is applicable to the curriculum in the different countries in the region.

The main Program Activities run as follows for each teacher training cycle:

• Developing a framework and strategy for the programme activities

• Identifying cultural objects, which can showcase mathematical concepts.

• Using the new Methods of teaching, incorporate cultural artifacts in selected Primary Maths concepts / topics.

• Test methods with select users (learners)

• Projects to garner buy-in for new methods with target schools and institution

• Setting up control group (classrooms to monitor that will not receive culturally relevant mathematics instruction)

• Piloting: Selecting and Training primary school Teachers in the use of new mathematics lessons’ delivery methods

• Scaling: Delivering Mathematics lessons using the new delivery methods in selected regions.

• Iteration: Adapt the approach as we progress for better results.

• Administrative Activities

• Monitoring Evaluation and Learning activities such as assessing the students’ performance

We are going market and share our approach with institutions that work in difficult places and areas, because out tools are suitable in context of emergencies / disadvantage. We are also developing a tailor made curriculum with mathematics for specific careers, so that even youth can appreciate the simplicity and relevance of maths in everyday life.

1) Interested schools purchase the training program for their teachers (payment could be by the school, donor organization or parents community)

2) Trained teachers go on to form Maths+Culture clubs, (a franchise model that allows trained / certified teachers, to conduct after-school maths sessions for learners in their local community)

3) Through a licensing structure, trained teachers, access varied support services, mentorship and followup in order to maintain quality and brand.

In this format, we generate funds from the schools, that allow us to continue to operate while reaching more and more children through the remote franchising structure.

To lower operation costs

- the training sessions will be conducted on a per case basis, where instructors from a pre-approved list are call upon.

- Certain modules in the training will be packaged and delivered in recorded video format so as to reduce human resource cost

- The entire essence of the innovation is to use locally available teaching resources; this in turn will lower costs.

We won and executed a grant from the Australia Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to improve education in emergencies. Our participation in the EIE challenge and the award of the grant has helped us reach over 1000 children in rural Uganda with an interactive mathematics lesson. The change in the attitudes towards mathematics in these children and their teachers has been the biggest transformation.