9-Texto Del Artã - Culo-44-2-10-20170426
9-Texto Del Artã - Culo-44-2-10-20170426
9-Texto Del Artã - Culo-44-2-10-20170426
E-ISSN: 2011-5474
[email protected]
Red Latinoamericana de Etnomatemática
Colombia
Milton Rosa2
Resumo
Neste diálogo, gostaria de oferecer ao leitor, uma introdução ao programa etnomatemática. O que é, de
onde vem, sobre o que se preocupa, e o mais importante, qual é a agenda deste programa para o século
21. Assim, elaborei uma entrevista com Ubiratan D’Ambrosio para discutir assuntos importantes
relacionados com o programa etnomatemática. Espero que os temas discutidos nesta entrevista sejam
uma adição importante ao crescente debate que envolve a etnomatemática.
In this dialogue, I would like to offer to the reader an introduction to ethnomathematics. What it is,
where it comes from, what it worries about, and most importantly, what is its agenda for the 21 st
century. In doing so, I generated an interview with Ubiratan D’Ambrosio that discusses important
issues related to the ethnomathematics as a program. It is hoped that the themes discussed in this
interview will add to the growing dialogue that surrounds ethnomathematics.
Presentation
1
Emeritus Professor – UNICAMP - Universidade de Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, [email protected]
2
Mathematics Teacher - Encina Preparatory High School, San Juan Unified School District,
Sacramento, California, USA, [email protected]
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particular vantage points as teacher and student, they each have done a great deal to add to
the growing body of scientific discourse and understanding between our two countries.
I met Milton Rosa, in 1998, while serving as a Fulbright scholar to the Pontifícia
Universidade Católica de Campinas (PUC-Campinas). As a member of one of the five
teacher-researcher groups, he generously facilitated a series of visits for me to his schools
in Amparo. I ended up being adopted by his family, schools, and neighborhood. I spent
almost every Friday night for four months (classes at his schools went to 11pm!) learning
how his schools worked and functioned. He was selected to participate in the California
State teacher exchange, and ended up being the first South American, as well as the first
Brazilian to participate in it. We continued the pattern of research in his new classes
environment here in the States where I assisted him in adjusting to teaching in a California
public school. This opportunity allowed him to earn a master degree in education. His
work at the school in Sacramento has been so well received that the school district has
offered to sponsor him to extend his visa, which has allowed him to be enrolled in a
doctoral program. Together we have collaborated on numerous projects, books, chapter
books, and articles
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One of my observations from my work here in California and in Brasil is the dearth
of sound research and literature related to work in ethnomathematics that is published in
English. A few of us have attempted to translate important documents, books, and papers,
but the Brazilian scholarship and production rate in ethnomathematics far outstrips the
ability of those who translate. The overall movement in ethnomathematics seems to be
circumventing the United States, for many reasons. Most notably because of a subtle but
notable sense of arrogance towards anything invented or produced south of 0 degrees
latitude3. One example of this crime, per se, is that a recent special edition of Scientific
American-Brasil was devoted to ethnomathematics. Despite its success abroad, the editors
of the English/USA version of Scientific American have no plans to translate or share the
same publication for the non-Portuguese speaking audience. This represents a serious loss
for the overall scientific community.
In so doing, I believe that the elaborations described in this dislogue are key points
in clarifying different ways of understanding ethnomathematics because they have
everything to do with how many educators are coming to incorporate ethnomathematics
3
There is serious work being done below the Equator. South American scholars apply what they learn to
situations and contexts far different than those that exist here in the United States. From this context are
emerging new ideas that serve the changing contexts in the north. One of these new ideas is
ethnomathematics.
4
The English translation of the Protuguese phrase “debaixo do Equador” is “below the Equator”.
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into the struggle for a better world. I agree with D’Ambrosio who sees a possibility of the
development of a new civilization where there is no inequity, bigotry, intolerance, hatred,
and discrimination, which allows for cultural dynamics to play its role in the evolution of
the human specie.
So it is that I am pleased to present this conversation between Ubi and Milton with
hopes that this dialogue will inspire further conversations, research, and scholarship in the
field of ethnomathematics.
Introduction
In this interview, I have attempted to capture D’Ambrosio’s thoughts and to elucidate his
ideas in order to clarify some misconceptions about ethnomathematics. We would like to
state at the outset here, that there are other perspectives and new views on
ethnomathematics emerging from other researchers in the field. Most assuredly they
deserve our respect and admiration. I begin here with a conversation with Ubiratan
D’Ambrosio.
Seen in this context, I would also like to emphasize that the questions, answers, and
comments made in this document are the personal views of this writer and of D’Ambrosio,
on ethnomathematics. We are certain that these views will not be agreed upon by all
educators, mathematicians, and philosophers, yet we are also confident that in some cases
the perspectives presented here are in discordance with views of other
ethnomathematicians. In so doing, we believe that this paper may be a good illustration of
what happens within a relatively new research field continues to evolve, and which has
spread itself to hundreds of universities and communities worldwide, in a relatively short
period of time. Ethnomathematics is evolving, and as more and more research is uncovered
worldwide, it is also a research field that is not yet crystallized. As it stands to day, it seeks
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to document and understand diverse mathematical practices of the very cultures it seeks to
empower and study.
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5
The Dambrosian approach to the ethnomathematics program in the pedagogical strand emphasizes the
influences of sociocultural factors on the teaching and learning of mathematics. D’Ambrosio (1990) states
that much of the mathematics used in daily practice, as affected by distinctive modes of cognition, may be
quite different from that which is taught in school. He indicates that many cultural differentiated groups
"know" mathematics in ways that differs from academic mathematics in the school curricula.
6
Ubiratan D’Ambrosio was my professor at Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC), in Campinas, state of
São Paulo, Brazil, in 1998, in the Ethnomathematics and Mathematical Modeling Specialization Course.
Since then, Ubiratan continued as my mentor and, most importantly, my very dearest friend. This is the
reason, that, in this paper, I am writing Ubi instead of Ubiratan.
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The two fundamental objectives of education (preparing for citizenship and stimulating
creativity) can hardly be achieved, in a constructive way, by a traditional, formal,
catechistic mathematics education, which frequently leads to individual annihilation, and
intellectual, even material, enslavement, and favors inequality, bigotry and arrogance. The
pedagogical component of an ethnomathematics program aims to achieving the two
fundamental objectives of education. Even when practiced in the limited ethnographic
style, ethnomathematics helps to build respect of other cultures, hence other individuals,
avoiding inequality, bigotry and arrogance.
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(Milton) I believe that this is very important to our present historical perspective in
relationship to the development of ethnomathematics as a program. The acknowledgment
and recognition of the contributions that individuals from diverse cultures have made
through history of mathematical understanding, along with the recognition and
identification of diverse practices of a mathematical nature may help to develop a sense of
value for diverse cultural forms of knowledge by raising the confidence and self-esteem of
individuals that belong to these groups.
What kind of critical analysis could be done in the study of the history of
ethnomathematics?
(Milton) A basic tenet of an ethnomathematics program is that all cultural groups develop
unique ways to look for and accumulate knowledge, and have evolved ways to quantify,
count, classify, measure, explain and model the phenomena of their own daily occurrences.
To further a growing dialogue in relation to this topic, and to assist in dispelling
misconceptions in relation to ethnomathematics, I believe that a historical description of the
development of this program of study is necessary.
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If we are going to study the history of ethnomathematics and if we need to be more focused
rather then general, what areas could we choose toplace our focus?
After that, the books by Michael Closs (1996) Native American Mathematics and Elaine
Selin (2000), Mathematics Across Cultures: The History of non-Western Mathematics, are
also basic references. Both contain a vast bibliography, which provide the most relevant
sources for Ethnomathematics.
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practiced in western societies, does exhibit a cultural bias. I believe that any given
mathematical idea or practice is a product of a particular culture and I am primarily
concerned with the way in which mathematics is taught in schools. In my opinion, a
mathematics curriculum should have two objectives:
What constitutes the merging ideas into the mainstream mathematics curriculum?
(Ubi) I see merging ideas as the result of cultural dynamics. Both inter and intra. Example
of inter: the encounter of Christian and Islamic views on the reality of the late Middle-Ages
and an example on intra: the theoretical rigor of analysis and the still open practical
problems of algebra in early 19 th century.
(Milton) The history of mathematics can be seen primarily as an investigation into the
origin of new discoveries in mathematics and also as the study of historical facts and
standardized mathematical methods, procedures, and notations of the past. However, in my
point of view, the history of ethnomathematics is the study of the mathematical ideas,
procedures, and practices of individuals in different cultures as manifested and transmitted
in diverse modes through generations.
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(Ubi) Either through examples focusing techniques and even theories (as ensembles of
explanation) or through a broad genetical (in the sense of Piaget’s genetical epistemology)
evolution of mathematical ideas.
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How is it possible to link indigenous knowledge and mathematics into the mathematics
curriculum?
(Ubi) Sometimes it is impossible to make this link. It is possible to identify questions and
problems that occur in the different complex natural, cultural and social atmospheres of the
native and the alien, and to discuss the different approaches to the questions and problems.
In a few cases, these are points of tangency or intersection (in both cases, there can be a
common point).
(Milton) In my opinion, currently, the ethnomathematics program has an agenda that offers
a broader view of mathematics, which embraces ideas, processes, methods, and practices
that are related to different cultural environments. This aspect leads to increased evidence
of cognitive processes, learning capabilities, and attitudes that may direct a learning process
occurring in our classrooms. In addition, by reflecting on the social and political
dimensions of ethnomathematics, I believe that another important aspect of its agenda is to
offer an important perspective for a dynamic and globalized modern society, which
recognizes that all cultures and all people develop unique methods and explanations that
allow them to understand, act, and transform their own reality.
What is the agenda for the ethnomathematics program for the 21st century?
(Ubi) The agenda for ethnomathematics for the 21 st century is to continue this continuing
trajectory. I believe an ethnographical approach will continue to be attractive for teachers
and students. This opens the discussion to critics, and we will see more attacks, aiming at
what they call the non-serious, or folkloristic, or “Donald Duck” approaches to
mathematics. It is natural, in the view of many educators, that by making children happy
and at the same time building a recognition and respect for other cultures, there is a concern
for losing “precious” instructional time, which could be used to teaching mechanical
techniques [mostly useless!]. This futile and perverse criticism will persist, and as more
research comes to light we will answer these concerns. But at the same time, the theoretical
strand of an ethnomathematics program is growing as a valid alternative to traditional
studies of history, philosophy, and pedagogy of mathematics. This will be more difficult to
dismiss by futile criticism.
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(Ubi) Ethnomathematics develops a sense of respect [by knowing the other], a sense of
solidarity [by recognizing the need of sharing knowledge] and cooperation [to face
complex, non-standard and non-artificial, questions and problems]. Respect, solidarity and
cooperation lead to the rejection of bigotry, inequity and arrogance between humans.
What is the evidence that support the need of the study of the history of ethnomathematics?
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(Milton) Many discussions have been raised by some researchers about the epistemology of
an ethnomathematics program. Renowned researchers come to recognize
ethnomathematics as a “science”, located in the confluence zone between mathematics and
cultural anthropology. For example, Ferreira (1997) defines ethnomathematics as a
methodological proposal with its own pedagogical action, which is stimulated by
ethnographical studies and uses mathematical modeling as a tool to reach the educational
goals of the investigated cultural group. On the other hand, Ascher (2002) highlighted the
presence of the mathematics of peoples from a variety of traditional cultures by illustrating
how their mathematical ideas play a vital role in diverse human endeavors. These
perspectives show two of the numerous dimensions of an ethnomathematics program. In
my point of view, there are different interpretations of this program that are often
interrelated. In accordance to one’s belief, I believe it is possible to identify six dimensions
for this program: conceptual, historical, cognitive, epistemological, political, and
educational.
In your opinion what are the other interpretations or dimensions of the ethnomathematics
as a program?
(Ubi) I am really concerned about the emphasis given to ethnographic studies because my
proposal focuses on history and it is also transdisciplinary and transcultural in nature.
There are concepts that are mathematical in nature (= space/form + time/quantity) that are
universal even in the “trans” concessions.
1) How can teachers integrate the contributions of diverse cultures into the school
curriculum? Could you please give an example?
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(Ubi) Teachers can integrate the contributions of diverse cultures into the school curriculum
by talking about them. For example, they can read classics such as “One Thousand and
One Nights” or they can study the Orixás 7 but without looking for mathematics in it.
(Ubi) This is not possible. They are going to study just one or another example, according
to the motivation of students and teachers. The given examples will be only used to
exemplify the existence of different intellectual options of distinct cultural groups.
(Ubi) It is everything that refers to space and time in our “fast” world, with many models
and simulations, and ample uses of technology for technical mathematics. It is the same as
when artisans make a chair, they also use modern technology not only old saws.
7
Orixás are the deities worshipped in the Candomblé religion and brought to Brazil by slaves, especially the
Yoruba people. In Africa, these were the kings, queens, mythical heroes and other ancestors rose to the status
of gods. In Brazil and other nations of the Americas, as in Cuba with the Santería, the African deities were
disguised through their association with Catholic saints in order to practice the religion in spite of it being
forbidden. In the Brazilian Candomblé, for example, Xangô corresponds with Saint Hieronymus and Oxossi
with Saint George.
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reach such perceptions if the academic system deals only with the mathematics that since
early antiquity, grew out of the Mediterranean context. Since an ethnomathematics
program is culturally rooted, there is no syllabus and mathematical content must be selected
by using cases that are ethnomathematical in nature and related to a student’s cultural
environment.
Is the mathematics being tied to what is discovered in the culture, thus motivating those
specific students to study it?
If certain minority groups in our schools today are known to employ particular
ethnomathematical practices, in which case these ethnomathematical practices are viewed
as cultural? Should individuals in such groups be bound by such practices? In this
context, are studies of historical practices of mathematical nature in these diverse minority
cultural groups of primary importance?
(Ubi) No, except if they want to communicate and deal with the dominating group, they
have to master their ways of doing. This is why the prairie Indians started to use guns
8
Neologism used by Ubi. From the Portuguese word Sacralização to Sacralization. In this context, Ubi
introduces this new word in English, which applies to the ethnomathematical context, which means the act or
effect to attribute a sacred characteristic to one or more categories. That is, when a specific category becomes
sacred.
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instead of arrows and bows. Their schools were only teaching them how to use bows and
arrows!
But, then why bother with ethnomathematics since it is not useful? It is useful; in vary
limited and restricted ways, that is, to communicate and to deal with local, communitarian,
and tribal issues within their own cultures. However, ethnomathematics is very, very
important in stressing cultural dignity, respect for a past mode of thought, which had much,
enormous, importance and coherence, but which was stopped and suppressed by the alien
intervention. This means restoration of cultural dignity, which gives strength to the
individual for being intellectually free and creative. The studies of their mathematical
practices are the utmost importance in order to value their cultural background.
(Milton) All societies have developed mathematical practices appropriate to their daily
lives and their cultures. Different indigenous communities use a diversity of ideas,
processes, and practices in order to deal with their physical and social environments. Some
of these practices may be transformed with interactions and contact with other cultural
groups. It is necessary to question the effects of a student’s cultural background and their
ability to learn mathematics. Another question is related to indigenous mathematical ideas
and the pedagogical procedures that allows for an effective relationship between different
cultural practices.
Are indigenous mathematical practices not allowed to evolve and expand based on newer
forms of social and cultural lives of people who engage with others outside their own
cultures?
(Ubi) Not because of this aspect, but because of the lack of cultural dignity, the lack of
respect and valorization of indigenous history and philosophy.
(Milton) The relatively young field of ethnomathematics may have much to offer to
mathematics education because it opposes formal school orientation that are not related to
socio-cultural and political aspects of mathematics. As a program, ethnomathematics seeks
to understand the diverse processes of thinking and ways of explaining. It seeks to find
ways to act on a student’s reality by first considering the student’s own cultural context.
This may be considered as a relative new issue in the field of mathematics education.
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(Ubi) It should be focused into learning about the history and philosophy of
ethnomathematics and this is a very, very, very difficult kind of research.
(Milton) In your perspective, individuals from different cultural groups, created and
developed, throughout history, diverse techniques of reflection, observation, and abilities,
that is, their own tics, in order to explain and understand, to comprehend and to know, to
learn and to do, in response to their own necessities of survival and transcendence. This
means that they have to deal with their own mathema in their own natural, social, and
cultural environments, which means that they have to deal with, their own ethnos. They
also developed, simultaneously, theoretical instruments that are associated with these
techniques and abilities. In this context, you also affirmed that “To distinguish the close
relation of these tics of mathema in distinct environments we introduced the prefix ethno.”
(D’Ambrosio, 1994, p. 234).
1) Could you please explain how do you understand the difference between Mathema of
Tics and Tics of Mathema?
(Ubi) I never thought about this. This is very interesting. Being coherent with my use of
the root mathema, we might consider it as the explanations and understandings of the
techné. In another words, it is similar to the history and philosophy of techné, which
includes art, techniques, ways of doing, manual labor, etc.
2) How does this difference influence the pedagogical actions of the Ethnomathematics
Program in classrooms?
(Ubi) Very challenging question. The tics of mathema are what we, teachers, do, that is,
we look for the ways, the arts, the techniques, of understanding, explaining, coping with a
situation or problem or fact. The mathema of tics, in the classroom, might be considered a
METAETHNOMATHEMATICS, that is, similar to what is done in
METAMATHEMATICS.
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(Milton) Freire was able to draw upon, and weave together, a number of strands of thinking
about educational practice and liberation. He certainly made a number of important
theoretical innovations that have had a considerable impact on the development of
educational practice, particularly on informal and popular education. Education may be
seen as a cultural action, seen in this perspective, the teaching practice is much more than
the transference of knowledge because it may be considered a cultural activity that should
introduce students to the creation of knowledge. This approach in education is the
antithesis of turning students into containers to be filled with information (Freire, 1970).
The main objective of Freire’s work was to situate educational activity in the live
experience of individuals in their own socio-cultural-economical contexts. This aspect of
his methodology opened up a series of possibilities for the way many informal educators
can approach educational practices. In so doing, Freire’s work has influenced many
educators around the world.
1) What were the influences of Paulo Freire and his work on ethnomathematics?
(Ubi) In the early stages of the developing of the ideas of ethnomathematics program, I
would say practically no influence. I was not familiar with his books and ideas. Later on,
when I met Paulo Freire, we had good conversations and, naturally, these opportunities
enriched my reflections on education and on ethnomathematics.
2) Who are the educators, mathematicians, and philosophers who influenced your work
with ethnomathematics? What kind of influences?
(Ubi) It is practically, impossible to trace this. I read avidly: much history, philosophy,
religion, art, mythology, anthropology, education, and particularly the history and
philosophy of sciences. And I traveled much. I was very curious in my understanding and
learning about other cultures, particularly myths, art, and religion. I believe what backed
my early ideas for ethnomathematics was this diversity of interests and a permanent
fixation on relating and finding commonalities in different lines of thought throughout
history.
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transmitting a certain amount of techniques and uses them in artificial situations, which are
presented to students as problems. These problems are artificially formulated, in such a
way that they only help in the memorization of skills. These techniques and problems are
usually boring, uninteresting and obsolete, and unrelated to the modern world. I think these
characteristics of traditional mathematics education are responsible for a downgrading of
school satisfaction and student’s achievement.
(Ubi) I have written about this many times Mathematics, as understood in the academic
world, is the ethnomathematics of the Mediterranean Basin, transformed through the
dynamics of cultural encounters with many traditions.
2) What are the consequences for the development of ethnomathematics and mathematics
for mathematics education?
(Ubi) The more we understand transdisciplinarian and transcultural ways, the evolution of
human knowledge and behavior, the better equipped we are to work towards specific goals,
objectives, and methods. Mathematics, as well as mathematics education, art, religion,
economics and development, have specific goals and methods. So, they surely will benefit
from the transdisciplinarian and transcultural nature of ethnomathematics.
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Currently, what are your feelings in relation to ethnomathematics? Are you able to follow
the evolution of the field?
(Ubi): No. So many things are occurring, so much field work, which is a main source of
ideas for ethnomathematics that my work is limited to learning what other researchers are
doing. What I do is try to follow and learn about their work and trying to relate and make
sense of their findings. Since so many people are working and so many new things are
appearing, I feel I am missing much of the advancements in the field.
Final Reflection
I first met Ubi in 1998 when he was teaching the History of Mathematics in the
specialization course in Mathematics Education (emphasizing ethnomathematics and
modeling) at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas in Brazil. At that time, I
understood Ubi’s role as an educator in the field of mathematics education and his
ethnomathematics program as a complementary instrument that fulfilled his commitments
to a better social order with more dignity and quality of life for mankind. Currently Ubi is
seeking new directions in order to provide new references to his work in mathematics
education. It has been particularly interesting, to further this exploration of Ubi’s
reflections about globalization, myths, religion, which are more concerned with the
“mathema of tics”.
In Ubi’s perspective, religion and sciences have focused on giving a sense of
normality to prevailing human individual and social behaviors. According to Ubi’s point of
view, the survival of humanity depends on our relation with nature, which is regulated by
ecological principles. To understand the human being, as well as other species, depends
essentially on the analysis of his triad - individual, society, and nature, and the
effectiveness of the relations between them. In this aspect, survival and transcendence have
been, throughout history, the roots for conflict, which develops into confrontation, violence
and the submission of individuals and nature. The big challenge for us all now is to be able
to deal with conflicts, which are intrinsic to life. In this new phase of Ubi’s work, it is an
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undeniable right of all human-beings to share the cultural and natural goods needed to our
material survival and intellectual enhancement and transcendence. This is the best
instrument available that may lead to a planetary civilization, with peace and dignity for
entire mankind.
From this conversation documented here, we conclude that mathematicians,
scientists and engineers are not the only ones who use and construct mathematical
knowledge. This knowledge is made by developing different processes, common to all
socio-cultural groups that enable the elaboration and use of mathematical abilities, which
include counting, locating, measuring, drawing, representing, playing, understanding,
comprehending, and explaining the necessities and interests of diverse groups and
individuals. Here Ubi shared with us his vision as how fundamental it should be that the
teaching and learning of mathematics values the cultural context of mathematical
knowledge and connect this aspect to the learning process for goals important to academic
curricula. To know and understand the value of the plurality of the nature of socio-cultural-
economical-political aspects of diverse peoples and cultures is a necessity in order to take a
firm stand against the prejudices based on cultural differences, social classes, beliefs,
gender, sexual orientation, ethnics, or other social and individual characteristics.
References
Andersen, K. (2002). The Awarding of the Kenneth O. May Prize for the Fourth Time.
Retrieved June 16, 2008 from http://www.unizar.es/ichm/may4.html.
D’Ambrosio, U. (1985). Ethnomathematics and its Place in the History and Pedagogy of
Mathematics. For the Learning of Mathematics, 5(1): 44-48.
D’Ambrosio, U. (1990). Etnomatemática [Ethnomathematics]. São Paulo: Editora Ática.
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