using mathematics to promote development …• explicit focus on social justice, globalisation and...

USING MATHEMATICS TO PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION

Seminar : Eoghan, Siobhan & Gearoid

AIM OF THIS SEMINAR:• To develop your understanding of Dev. Ed. when dealing with mathematical

concepts in context and their application, while introducing you theunderlying topics within it and to provide you with a platform to share youropinions and ideas.

OBJECTIVES:

• Participants will:

1. Gain an insight into promotion Dev. Ed in their mathematics classroom and why we incorporate it.

2. Advance some ideas of how to implement it

3. Have the knowledge and confidence to apply these topics in their classroom

THINK AND SHARE:

• What is one thing you are doing as a mathematics teacher to engage your students with the real world?

• If you cant think of anything, what is something you would like to do?

DEVELOPMENT - EDUCATION

• Development• Development co-operation – An

overall agenda, not just aid, includes trade, policies, etc.

• Official Development Aid – An instrument for development

• Development Studies – The academic study of global development issues such as poverty, inequalities, etc.

• Education• Formal Education – National

education, curriculum, teacher education, etc.

• Non-Formal Education – youth work, community work, etc.

• Citizenship education –Engagement in public affair, living democracy

EXPLORING DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION

• Explicit focus on social justice, globalisation and development• Roots and strong links to civil society at home• A focus on the different view points and multiple perspectives on the story of

development• A participatory and transformative learning process• Awareness building and action for positive change• Focus on active global citizenship

DIMENSIONS OF DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION

• Values and Perceptions• Attitudes• Beliefs• Preconceptions• Learning• Change• Duty• Responsibilities• Belonging

• Capabilities and Skills

• Reasoning

• Critical thinking

• Communication

• Social

These skills are in line with and fulfil the requirements of the new Junior Framework key statements of learning (NCCA) along with life long skills.

• Knowledge and Ideas• Change

• Gender

• Sustainability

• Identity

• Democracy

• Human rights

• Interconnections

• Globalisation

• Experiences and Actions

• Learning through doing

• Active citizenship

• Activism

• Research

• Volunteerism

WHY HAS DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION COME ABOUT?

• The increasing multicultural nature of societies • The work of national and international charitable organisations. • European Union now having: An explicit recognition of the need to

understand society at local, national and global levels with sustainable development and global citizenship being features of both the aims and purpose of the curriculum, and specific learning themes within a number of subjects.

A CASE FOR DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION

• Development Education is a necessity in the age of globalisation and the knowledge society

• The world has become smaller and yet more complex, • We have access to more information than ever before and yet we are left with

the feeling that we are drowning in information gasping for knowledge. • We need to be able to translate information into knowledge, deal with

complexity and uncertainties• We need to work effectively with others in very challenging environments at

work and in our private life• We need to be good communicators in and between different cultural settings

both at home and abroad. • Development Education is an educational response to those challenges that

focuses on active global citizenship.

“In one sentence Development Education is... good education... with a global perspective” (IDEA, 2013)

WHY SHOULD WE AS TEACHERS TEACH DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION?

• Mission statement of both junior and senior cycles (IDEA, 2013)• Becoming increasing recognised that teaching is more than the mere

transmission of knowledge but is a multidimensional role• Teachers must aid and encourage students to become caring, mature

adults who develop into caring and active citizens. • Highlighting the inequalities that exist in the world and the role we all play in

causing or preventing such inequalities.• Education should “prepare young people to meet the challenges and

opportunities of the present world and to play a constructive part in shaping the world of the future” (Wade, 1997).

WHY DON’T TEACHERS WANT TO BRING IN DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION?

• Teachers feel:• Anxious• Uncomfortable• Ill-equipped to address themes of racism, discrimination and multiculturalism in

their classrooms. • Teachers fear about upsetting and/or further stigmatizing ethnic minority

students in these lessons. • Complex nature of Development Education and the struggle with the dual

responsibility of making students aware of global problems without making them feel depressed or powerless to intervene.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT IT IN SCHOOL…

• Progressive and holistic approach • Linkages across subject or topic boundaries• Whole-school approaches to Development Education connect learning and

reveal interconnections between issues, concepts and realities• Whole-school approaches move beyond the dedication of one or two

motivated teachers to a team approach involving both teaching and non-teaching staff and the wider school community

CHALLENGES IN SCHOOLS

• Funding• Leadership• Whole school action• Evaluating impact and realising benefits• Teacher readiness• Learning and teaching approaches• Support and advice

MOVING FROM THE CONVENTIONAL APPROACH

Mathematics Computation

Problem

Problem

ProblemProblemProblem

Real World

TO A DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION APPROACH

Development Education

Real WorldAlgebra

Calculus

ProbabilityStatistics

Number Theory

TOPICS OF DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION:

1. Poverty & Hunger2. Education3. Gender Equality4. Child Morality5. Maternal Health6. Combat Disease7. Environmental Sus.8. Global Partnership

Source: UN Development Goals (2000)

ACTIVITY 1: WALKING DEBATE

• Instructions:1. Stand up in the isle in the middle of the room2. Listen to a statement read by Gearoid, Siobhan or Eoghan3. After the statement is read, consider whether you agree or disagree with

it4. If you agree, proceed to the top of the room5. If you disagree, proceed to the bottom of the room6. You should reason before you decide as you might be called upon to

give your opinion


• Question 1:

•‘Population growth needs to be controlled for a sustainable world.’


• Question 2:

•‘Is it right to give money to people begging for money on the street.’


• Question 3:

•‘Gender inequality is always inequality towards women’


• Question 4:

•‘The Answer to World Hunger is food’


• Question 5:

•‘Global education is constantly improving’


• Question 6:

•‘Child mortality is a thing of the past in Ireland’

TOPICS COVERED IN TODAY’S SEMINAR:

• Poverty • Consumption• Hunger• Gender Inequality• Education• Child Mortality

Gearoid

Poverty

Consumption

SiobhanHunger

Gender Inequality

EoghanEducation

Child Mortality

LINKPoverty

Consumption

Hunger

Gender Equality

Education

Child Mortality

5:50:500 – HOW THE WORLD REWARDS THE RICH AT THE EXPENSE OF THE

POOR:• $5 billion – Every year for the last 10 years aid given to the Developing World

by Non-Government Organisations• $50 billion – Every year for the past 10 years aid given to the Developing

World by governments• $500 billion – Every year over the past 10 years, the Developing World has lost

due to the unjust and unfair international trade system

POVERTY

POVERTY• The lack of basic human needs due to the

inability to afford them:• Clean water• Nutrition• Shelter• Education

• Social exclusion• The lack of entitlements (human rights)• 22,000 children die each day due to poverty• 80% of humanity lives on less than €8 a day• Almost 1 billion people live in slums• 300 million people in Africa are living in extreme poverty

POVERTY IN IRELAND• 5.5% of the Irish population at risk of poverty

• Below 60% of the median income• In 2009, median income in Ireland was €231.20 per week

• 14.1% of the Irish population at a consistent level of poverty• Having a income below the median income• Experiencing forced deprivation• Not having the income to buy basic essentials

CAUSES OF POVERTY?

• Political instability• War• HIV/Aids• No access to employment opportunities• Historical factors – colonialism • Overpopulation• Social discrimination• Environmental factors

USING MATHEMATICS TO PROMOTE THIS:

• Lesson idea – Number Theory – Poverty

• Critical Thinking Questions:• What are some solutions to ending extreme poverty?• How can we help to alleviate poverty?

• Objectives:• Consider what is means to be in extreme poverty• Brainstorm solutions to alleviate poverty• Evaluate formulas for different values• Solve multi-step equations

EXAMPLE:

• How much would you buy these for?• A cinema ticket?• A 3 course meal?• A cup of coffee?• A bus fare?

• Could you buy any of thesefor under €8?

City Cinema Ticket 3 course meal A cup of coffee A bus fareNew York €5.40 €15.00 €1 €2.00Cape Town €5.00 €10.50 €0.80 €1.10Mumbai €2.50 €8.45 €0.70 €0.95San Paolo €4.90 €8.20 €0.70 €0.90

• Where can you buy each item for the lowest price?• Which city is the most expensive?

• Pair work:• Is it feasible to live on €8 a day?• What percentage of the world live on less than €8 a day?• What would life be like?• What would you eat?

CONSUMPTION

• What we eat• What we wear• How we consume things• Impact on the planet

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aQbMrHbKWE• Video used:

• Ratios to represent unequal world • Whole numbers to represent the population• Percentages to distinguish between the developed and developing world

FOOD CONSUMPTION

• One third (1.3 billion tonnes) of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year gets wasted or lost

• Consumers fail to plan their food purchases properly

• Amount to a major squandering of resources

• Water• Land• Energy

• Education in school• Possible starting point• Changing consumers attitudes• Made aware of the limited natural

resources• More effective to reduce food loses

than increase food production to feed a growing population


• Lesson Idea: Modelling Integers – Population Growth

• Critical thinking questions:• What factors drive population growth?• What are the impacts of population growth and loss?• How is population connected to other global issues?

• Objectives:Consider consequences of positive and negative population growth?• Recognize and identify integers• Add integers with same and different signs• Solve equations with integers• Examine population trends

EXAMPLE

• Interpret the graph?• What is the mean age in Rwanda?• What is the range in age in Rwanda?• What percentage of the Population older than the mean age?

• Interpret the graph?• What is the mean age in the USA?• What is the range in age in theUSA?• What percentage of the Population are older than the mean age?• Compare graphs and results.

• Find consumptions levels of each country, compare them and are they fair?

EFFECTS OF POPULATION GROWTH• Further excessive consumption• Larger footprint on the environment• More people crowded into smaller

spaces in some areas• Substandard housing• Homelessness

• Unsanitary sources of food and water• Spread of disease• Ability to manage waster

WORLD HUNGER

WORLD HUNGER

• Statistics, Statistics, Statistics!!

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THsYslvLtvk

STATISTICS FROM THE VIDEO

• Population today 7.1 billion.• 1/6 of the population hungry- (fractions & pie chart).• Units: Currency ($), weight (lbs & tonnes), Calories, Area (cubic yards), Time

(seconds, years).

101Ten Fingers & Ten Toes

102Scale on which World Hunger is measured. (0 – 100).

103€1,000 Cost in euro the average household wastes with food waste

10410,000 Calories a dayTom Price, 23

105100,000 Babies expected to be born in Ireland in 2013

1071,000,000,000 people hungry in the world

GENDER INEQUALITY

WHAT IS GENDER INEQUALITY?

• Gender equality is achieved when women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society, including economic participation and decision-making, and when the different behaviours, aspirations and needs of women and men are equally valued and favoured.

Gender Equality Ireland

Genderequality.ie

CSO CENSUS 2011

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Chart Title

Men Women

• There are 2.26million women in Ireland and 2.22 million men in Ireland:• 50% women, 50% men- in percentage format correct to the nearest %.• 15.1% of TDs in Dáil Éireann are women.• 27.4% of Irish judges are female• Female bias in custody of children.

Gender Bias in Ireland

GENDER INEQUALITY WORLDWIDE:

• Forbidden from driving- Saudi Arabia.

• Access to education: Afghanistan

• Right to travel- Egypt & Bahrain

• Custody rights- Bahrain

• Female infanticide- China- 114 males: 100 female

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKhBnazwAV4

Higher Level Mathematics: 54% male, 46% female. Females tend to perform better that their male counterparts in achieving A & B grades.

HOW TO INCORPORATE G.E IN THE MATHS CLASSROOM:

• Ask the students to take some census information and represent this information by gender and compare & contrast the results to contradict common misconceptions.

• Introduce students to the story of ‘Malala Yousafzai’ to help students appreciate their privilege of a right to education.

• Boys score lower in reading, in particular at the low end of the reading performance continuum. On the other hand, girls score lower in mathematics at the high end of the mathematics performance continuum.

Stoet G, Geary DC (2013)

• Encourage Mathematical literacy with boys, and Mathematics in general with the girls.

EDUCATION

WHAT IS EDUCATION?

• Education is often seen as a privilege. It is not. Education is a right. It is the key to a better childhood and a better future for children, their communities and their countries. It is one of many human rights that poor people are denied every day.

• Action Aid 2013• Globally, over 75 million children do not have access to primary school

education.

• Huge amount of gender inequality in schools

EDUCATION• Factors effecting education in the

developing world:• Distance to schools• Lack of resources• Lack of teaching staff• Spread of disease

EDUCATION IN IRELAND VS RWANDA

• Government in Ireland spent 13.5% of total expenditure on education.• 66% of children under the age of 4 attend a pre school• 99% of children under the age of 16 are in full time education.• Primary school has a completion rate of over 95% • 165,000 students in Ireland’s third level system (33 institutions)

• 17% of the government expenditure in Rwanda on education• 11% attend pre school• 20% under 16 are in full time education• Completion rate of 65%

Comparing Ireland 2015 - 2050

Comparing Rwanda 2015 - 2050


• Lesson idea – Statistics

• Critical Thinking Questions:• Analyse the data given on a certain country regarding education

• Objectives:• How could we improve education in these countries• The effects these elements would have on the data• Developing cross curricular links (Geography: population)• Interpreting data

EXAMPLE:

• From the data provided above, calculate the amount/percentage of students that start primary school compared to the amount in third level.

• Draw a diagram to represent the percentage of children under 4 enrolled and not enrolled in education.

CHILD MORTALITY

CHILD MORTALITY

• 6.6 million children under the age of five died in 2012.• More than half of these early child deaths are due to conditions that could be

prevented or treated with access to simple, affordable interventions. • Leading causes of death in under-five children are pneumonia, preterm birth

complications, birth asphyxia, diarrhoea and malaria. About 45% of all child deaths are linked to malnutrition.

• Children in sub-Saharan Africa are about over 16 times more likely to die before the age of five than children in developed regions.

• A child's risk of dying is highest in the neonatal period, the first 28 days of life. Safer childbirth and effective neonatal care are essential to prevent these deaths. 44% of child deaths under the age of five take place during the neonatal period.

CHILD MORTALITY

Factors effecting child mortality:

• Standard of medicine• Education• Geographical location


• Lesson Idea: Algebra – Providing aid

• Critical thinking questions:• What factors affect child mortality?• How does child mortality effect a population graph?

• Objectives:• Recognize and identify factors effecting population of children • Form algebraic questions from worded problems• Solve equations• Interpreting how different elements will effect our answer

EXAMPLE

• If each school pupil donates 5 vaccines and €20 in aid to children’s medicine. The total amount money a student gives is €40.

• Question, what is the cost of a single vaccine?• Step 1: Form the equation• Step 2: Solve for the variable

OTHER METHODS OF PROMOTING DEV ED

METHODS OF PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION

• Team Hope• Christmas show box appeal

• Homes and schools are encouragedto send Christmas presents

• Children who suffer from war, disease and poverty

“Team Hope is an Irish, development aid charity, working with children, and through them, into their families and communities” (Team Hope, 2013)

• Trocaire Boxes:

• Donation boxes provided for each classroom and student’s houses

• Asked to provide donations throughout lent

• 40 years been part of the classroom

“Raise awareness about the causes of poverty through our outreach programmes in the education sector, through parish networks, and through our public campaigns and advocacy work” (Trocaire, 2013)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLVY5YJ60b8

1% Difference

RESULTS FROM QUESTIONNAIRE

TEACHERS PERCEPTION OF EXISTENCE OF DEV ED

COMPARISON OF DEV ED ISSUE BY SUBJECT

USEFUL RESOURCES

• World Health Organisation• Central Statistics Office• Action Aid• UNESCO• Development Education Ireland• IDEA• NCCA• Project Maths• UBUNTU

QUESTIONS

using mathematics to promote development …• explicit focus on social justice, globalisation and...

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