Kelsey Amos
Purple Mai‘a Foundation (2015-2016)
"Taking an ethnomath approach means that you are not only having students do abstract math on a chalkboard, or read about scientific theories in a textbook. They are also having intimate experiences on the land and solving technical problems hands-on."
Hometown
Mililani, Hawai'i
Department
Curriculum Studies
Related Degrees
- Ethnomathematics PD
Where do you work?
I work at the Purple Maiʻa Foundation (www.purplemaia.org). I’m a co-founder and administrative director; my team and I develop, plan, and implement culturally grounded technology learning programs for youth and adults.
How has the Ethnomathematics program impacted or benefitted your career path?
Being in the 8th cohort (2015-2016) connected me with a wonderful group of really committed and innovative educators. I brought back a lot of ideas about how STEM is cultural and can be found all around us in Hawaiʻi, and that can be the basis even for computer science curriculum.
What does ethnomathematics mean to you?
Taking an ethnomathematics approach means that you are not only having students do abstract math on a chalkboard, or read about scientific theories in a textbook. They are also having intimate experiences on the land and solving technical problems hands-on. Students not only gain conceptual understanding of an idea, but they also develop the kinds of relationships that Hawaiians and other Indigenous cultures know to be essential… The hopeful message I took away from the first two days of the institute is that…our relationships are still there, waiting to be reclaimed. Read more at http://www.purplemaia.org/ethnomath-and-roots/