Annotated Bibliography

 

Course: EDCP 553-26 Cohort: Teaching & Learning Embodied Mathematics Outdoors & Via the Arts

Institution: University of British Columbia (UBC)
Instructor: Dr. Susan Gerofsky
Student: Tracy Parkes
Student Number: 51695494

This annotated bibliography supports the design of an embodied, land-based mathematics learning experience centred on sweetgrass braiding and related weaving practices. The work is intentionally situated within my role as principal of a school serving both Kindergarten to Grade 4 and Grades 9 to 12 learners. This unique configuration requires pedagogical approaches that honour early years’ sensory, play-based, and story-driven learning, while also offering depth, continuity, and leadership opportunities for older students.

Sweetgrass braiding provides a powerful cross-grade context for mathematical exploration, inviting learners to engage with pattern, repetition, structure, spatial reasoning, proportional thinking, and careful attention to process. At the same time, it functions as a living Indigenous practice grounded in relationship to Land, community, and responsibility. Beyond classroom instruction, this work informs the development of culturally meaningful spaces, such as a lunchtime cultural club, here students across age groups can engage in intergenerational learning, mentorship, and shared making.

The sources included in this bibliography were selected to provide ethical, theoretical, and pedagogical grounding for this work. Together, they draw from Indigenous education, land-based learning, and holistic approaches to curriculum, supporting the creation of learning environments that honour Indigenous knowledges while fostering meaningful mathematical engagement across developmental stages.

Applications of Indigenous Knowledges in the 21st Century

Shava, S., & Togo, C. (2019)
Chapter in Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge for the Modern Era

Summary
Shava and Togo examine the continued relevance of Indigenous knowledges across contemporary contexts, including environmental stewardship, food systems, technology, aesthetics, governance, and education. They argue that Indigenous knowledge systems are often marginalized within formal education while simultaneously being appropriated and reframed through Western lenses without acknowledgement of their origins or epistemological foundations. The authors emphasize the need to reclaim Indigenous knowledges as coherent, evidence-based, and dynamic systems that continue to evolve in response to modern challenges.

Relevance to This Project
This chapter provides an essential theoretical foundation for positioning sweetgrass braiding as a legitimate knowledge system rather than a supplemental or “craft-based” activity. For a K–4 context, it supports the framing of braiding as a meaningful way for young learners to encounter pattern, repetition, and structure through embodied engagement. For Grades 9–12, it strengthens the rationale for examining Indigenous practices as sophisticated systems connected to sustainability, technology, and design. From a leadership perspective, this source supports curriculum decisions that challenge deficit-based narratives and affirm Indigenous knowledge as intellectually rigorous and pedagogically rich across grade levels.

The First Blade of Sweetgrass

Greenlaw, S., & Frey, G. (2020)
Children’s picture book

Summary
The First Blade of Sweetgrass introduces readers to the cultural, spiritual, and relational significance of sweetgrass through the story of a young child learning about its careful harvesting. The narrative emphasizes respect for the Land, gratitude, patience, and responsibility, highlighting practices such as taking only what is needed and offering thanks. Sweetgrass is presented as a living gift and teacher, situated within seasonal cycles and intergenerational knowledge.

Relevance to This Project
This text demonstrates how story functions as legitimate pedagogy in land-based and culturally responsive learning contexts. In K–4 classrooms, the book serves as an accessible entry point for exploring pattern, counting, sequencing, measurement, and cycles through narrative and discussion. In a K–12 school context, it also models how Indigenous stories can ground more complex conversations about stewardship, ethics, and relational accountability. Including this text affirms children’s literature as curriculum and positions Indigenous storytelling as a valid and powerful source of knowledge within mathematics education.

Cree Elders’ Perspectives on Land-Based Education: A Case Study

Hansen, J. G. (2018)
Brock Education Journal

Summary
Hansen explores Cree Elders’ perspectives on land-based education as a relational framework for learning, childrearing, and cultural continuity. Using participatory and arts-based research methods, the study highlights the role of Elders and grandparents in knowledge transmission while emphasizing children’s agency, curiosity, and independence. Knowledge is understood as braided across generations, places, and practices, challenging settler-colonial assumptions that frame tradition as static or historical.

Relevance to This Project
This article provides a conceptual foundation for understanding braiding as both metaphor and lived educational practice. For K–4 learners, it supports the design of learning experiences that honour children as capable knowledge holders engaged in relational, hands-on learning. For older students, it offers a framework for understanding intergenerational knowledge, mentorship, and responsibility. As a school leader, this source informs the creation of learning spaces, such as cultural clubs or shared projects, where students across grades can engage collaboratively in embodied, land-connected mathematical inquiry.

Implementing a First-Year Experience Curriculum: Voices of Faculty

Nichols, L. D. (2019)
Canadian Journal of Higher Education

Summary
Nichols examines faculty experiences implementing First-Year Experience curricula, emphasizing the importance of relationship-based, holistic approaches to student belonging and engagement. Faculty participants describe tensions between institutional structures and pedagogical values, noting that meaningful curriculum change requires shared vision, collaboration, and recognition of teaching as relational work.

Relevance to This Project
Although situated in post-secondary education, this article reinforces principles that are highly relevant in K–12 contexts, particularly within a combined early years and secondary school. The emphasis on belonging, coherence, and intentional curriculum design parallels the challenges of integrating Indigenous and land-based practices in schools. From a leadership perspective, this source supports the need for structural alignment, such as scheduling, space, and staff support, to ensure that embodied, culturally grounded learning experiences like sweetgrass braiding are sustainable and meaningful rather than tokenistic.

A Wholistic Vision of Academic Success

Brant, J. (2023)

Summary
Brant presents a strength-based, wholistic understanding of academic success grounded in Indigenous maternal pedagogies. Through sharing circles with Indigenous women, the study highlights success as relational, identity-affirming, and connected to community, rather than measured solely through grades or standardized outcomes. The work emphasizes story, care, and the Four Rs: respect, relevance, reciprocity, and responsibility.

Relevance to This Project
This article supports framing sweetgrass braiding as living pedagogy that engages heart, mind, body, and spirit. For K–4 learners, it reinforces the importance of relational safety, play, and story-based learning. For Grades 9–12, it provides language for valuing leadership, identity development, and community contribution. As a principal, this source strengthens the ethical grounding for designing learning environments that prioritize belonging, cultural continuity, and meaningful engagement over narrow academic performance.

 

References

Brant, J. (2023). A wholistic vision of academic success: Indigenous maternal pedagogies and strength-based education. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 53(2), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/cjhe.v53i2.xxxx
(Replace DOI if required or remove if not available.)

Greenlaw, S., & Frey, G. (2020). The first blade of sweetgrass. Nimbus Publishing.

Hansen, J. G. (2018). Cree Elders’ perspectives on land-based education: A case study. Brock Education Journal, 28(1), 74–92. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/brocked.v28i1.xxxx
(Replace DOI if required or remove if not available.)

Newberry, J., & Pace-Crosschild, T. (2020). Braiding sweetgrass families: A transmedia project on parenting in Blackfoot Territory. Families, Relationships and Societies, 9(3), 411–427. https://doi.org/10.1332/204674319X15754614021266

Nichols, L. D. (2019). Implementing a first-year experience curriculum: Voices of faculty. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 49(2), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/cjhe.v49i2.xxxx
(Replace DOI if required or remove if not available.)

Shava, S., & Togo, C. (2019). Applications of Indigenous knowledges in the 21st century. In S. Shava & C. Togo (Eds.), Traditional and Indigenous knowledge for the modern era (pp. xx–xx). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-8900-0