An ethnomathematical approach in mathematics teaching in the Fulni-ô Indigenous community

Abstract

The present article seeks to reflect how Mathematics is contextualized within the indigenous sociocultural perspective, as well as to highlight cultural aspects that allow the applicability of mathematical concepts based on the knowledge that is developed by a specific group. The contextualization of teaching from within a given community is a principle of Ethnomathematics that allows the usage of previous knowledge, historically acquired in a given community for better meaning or conceptualization of problem situations. This study aims to characterize teaching and learning of Mathematics in the Fulni-ô indigenous community in order to support future teaching practices that favor contextualization and diversification in teaching resources that report the valorization and reaffirmation of cultural identity. A brief bibliographic study was made in which D'Ambrosio's ideas were used as one of the main theoreticians in the basement. In this study teachers affirm the importance of culture, but most do not use tools that value it. Students perceive that the difficulty in learning is due to the methodology used by the teacher, who often goes beyond the triad: board, pencil and textbook. In turn teachers do not belittle this statement: Most of the teachers interviewed use only these basic resources.