A meta-analysis: pedagogical strategies for teaching mathematics among aboriginal students

Abstract

Pedagogy is the study of teaching, especially teaching in the formal education. In other words, it is the science and art of teaching in schools. As a field of extensive research, pedagogy also involves the study of the process of teaching and learning, classroom management, school organization and teacher-student interactions. However, there are some pedagogical strategies that take into considerations language background, low socioeconomic status, and of non-dominant or minority cultures need to be proposed and experimented. In the recent years, it has been generally recognized that the conventional approaches in learning and teaching numeracy for aboriginal students have limited effectiveness. However, the aboriginal students’ performance in literacy and mathematics has not much improved since then. Efforts to improve the teaching and learning of this minority group should be given serious attention since students who have not mastered basic skills in reading, writing and arithmetic are dropouts and at-risk groups who will face difficulties in meeting the needs of further education and career.