Multicultural Mathematics Instruction: Approaches and Resources

Mathematics, like all other subject areas, is embedded in cultural contexts. Cultural background frames the way we look at the world. It pervades the whole of who we are and strongly influences our perspectives, manner of thinking and communicating, and other ways of processing and interacting with our surroundings. Clearly, culture is much more at the heart of people than are surface-level customs, such as style of dress or common cuisine. Adding cultural content to instruction is inappropriate, therefore, if the content is merely grafted onto a topic, included as an optional or “extra” feature, or treated superficially.