Ethnomathematics - The Development and Meaning of "ethnomathematics"

The Development and Meaning of "ethnomathematics"

The term "ethnomathematics" was introduced by the Brazilian educator and mathematician Ubiratan D'Ambrosio in 1977 during a presentation for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Since D'Ambrosio put forth the term, people - D'Ambrosio included - have struggled with its meaning ("An etymological abuse leads me to use the words, respectively, ethno and mathema for their categories of analysis and tics from (from techne)".).

The following is a sampling of some of the definitions of ethnomathematics proposed between 1985 and 2006:

• "The mathematics which is practiced among identifiable cultural groups such as national-tribe societies, labour groups, children of certain age brackets and professional classes".
• "The mathematics implicit in each practice".
• "The study of mathematical ideas of a non-literate culture".
• "The codification which allows a cultural group to describe, manage and understand reality".
• "Mathematics…is conceived as a cultural product which has developed as a result of various activities".
• "The study and presentation of mathematical ideas of traditional peoples".
• "Any form of cultural knowledge or social activity characteristic of a social group and/or cultural group that can be recognized by other groups such as Western anthropologists, but not necessarily by the group of origin, as mathematical knowledge or mathematical activity".
• "The mathematics of cultural practice".
• "The investigation of the traditions, practices and mathematical concepts of a subordinated social group".
• "I have been using the word ethnomathematics as modes, styles, and techniques (tics) of explanation, of understanding, and of coping with the natural and cultural environment (mathema) in distinct cultural systems (ethnos)".
• "What is the difference between ethnomathematics and the general practice of creating a mathematical model of a cultural phenomenon (e.g., the "mathematical anthropology" of Paul Kay and others)? The essential issue is the relation between intentionality and epistemological status. A single drop of water issuing from a watering can, for example, can be modeled mathematically, but we would not attribute knowledge of that mathematics to the average gardener. Estimating the increase in seeds required for an increased garden plot, on the other hand, would qualify".