Abstract
After three decades since the emergence of the ethnomathematics as a program, many investigators and educators in many countries are not comfortable about the role of ethnomathematics in mathematics education. This particular pedagogical action underscores the importance of doing the ethnomathematical work first in order to come to a good understanding of the mathematical aspects of culture by having a clear purpose in regards to educational activities. Both the implantation and implementation of ethnomathematical perspectives in classrooms must be preceded by investigations of the mathematical ideas, procedures, and practices developed by the members of diverse cultural groups. Ethnomathematics helps to establish a meta-awareness of the role of mathematical knowledge in the society and cultural context of mathematics. Hence, ethnomathematics is a reciprocal program as it is possible to think of traditional academic mathematics and its role within its host cultural group. This reciprocity is a vital aspect of ethnomathematics.
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Notes
- 1.
Mathematization is a process in which members of a distinct cultural group develop specific mathematical tools that can help them to organize, analyze, comprehend, understand, and solve concrete problems located in the context of their real-life situations (Rosa and Orey 2010).
- 2.
One of the main characteristics people of minority groups have in common is that they often face discrimination, marginalization and exclusion from society. International human rights laws, which focus on the principle of equality, guarantee the educational right to all people. However, people of many minority groups are likely to be denied their right to education. In this context, the majority of children who are members of non-traditional, marginalized or out-of-school populations and/or are also deprived of access to formal education that is relevant and responsive to their specific context and needs (UNICEF 2009).  For example, globally speaking, there are some educational institutions in which a particular ethnic, racial or cultural group is a majority, thus, the experiences of students of a minority group such as Indigenous, English Language Learners or Special Education are not reflected in the mainstream cultural and educational materials of the broader national sense.
- 3.
Systems are sets composed of elements taken from reality. The analysis of the interrelationship among these elements seeks to develop reflection, understanding, and comprehension of phenomenon that are part of reality (Rosa and Orey 2016).
- 4.
Decontextualization is a consciously or subconsciously process of examining or interpreting mathematical ideas, procedures, and practices separated from the sociocultural context in which they are embedded.
- 5.
Other innovative approaches of ethnomathematics are: social justice, civil rights, indigenous education, professional contexts, game playing, urban and rural contexts, ethnotransdisciplinarity, ethnopedagogy, ethnomethodology, and ethnocomputing (Rosa and Orey 2016).
- 6.
Glocalization is the acceleration and intensification of interaction and integration among members of distinct cultural groups (Rosa and Orey 2016).
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Rosa, M., Gavarrete, M.E. (2017). An Ethnomathematics Overview: An Introduction. In: Rosa, M., Shirley, L., Gavarrete, M., Alangui, W. (eds) Ethnomathematics and its Diverse Approaches for Mathematics Education. ICME-13 Monographs. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59220-6_1
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