Interface between mathematical activities of ghanaian african culture manifested in fabrics and practices developed in classrooms in the light of Ethnomathematics

Abstract

In this article, we seek to understand the relationship between Ghanaian fabrics and academic mathematics taught in the classroom, in order to make context-based learning of mathematics possible. In this perspective, the study explored the results of a research developed by Santos (2008), within the scope of the elaboration of his master's thesis, defended at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo. The research aimed to raise some mathematical knowledge embedded in the Kente fabrics of the Ghanaian culture, in order to establish a link with activities developed in the classroom. It was directed to answer the following scientific question: How can African culture, through the representations of the Kente African loom, contribute to the teaching-learning processes in a mathematics classroom? To this end, the qualitative paradigm was methodologically adopted, fundamentally using the interview as the main data collection technique. The main theoretical reference was taken from Ubiratan D’Ambrosio. The results obtained allowed the elaboration of activities that allow the dialogue between cultural knowledge and academic mathematics.