Respect, Responsibility, Relevance, and Reciprocity: What the 4 Rs of Indigenous Research Offer Toward Decolonizing a Mathematics Classroom

Working to decolonize one’s mathematics teaching practice can create tensions between honouring Indigenous ways of knowing and being and not appropriating or tokenizing Indigenous cultures. This paper describes a mathematics teacher’s path towards decolonization in her grade 6/7 classroom in Saskatchewan, Canada. Through self-study research, Giroux created a framework using the 4 Rs of Indigenous research (respect, responsibility, relevance, and reciprocity), posing the research question: What is the value of my 4 Rs pedagogical framework for my professional growth as I aim to disrupt power and control in my mathematics classroom? Data, collected through a research journal, critical friend interviews, and student work, were examined using thematic analyses. Findings point to several semantic and latent themes of noticeable importance in disrupting power and control, while strengthening relationships, within the classroom. In this paper, the themes are presented and discussed in the context of decolonizing the mathematics classroom and for grounding the teaching and learning of mathematics in Indigenous perspectives and pedagogies based in the 4 Rs framework. Implications of the research include possibilities for K-12 educators to embrace and engage with Indigenous perspectives toward disrupting traditional power norms, promoting student agency, and strengthening relationships in the classroom and beyond.