New Article on Ethnomathematics

Bonnie has sent us another article on Ethnomathematics.  The more I read about this topic the more fascinated I become with this common-sense approach to building mathematical capacity in our schools and society.  It is more the norm than not, these days, to have significant numbers of culturally diverse populations in our communities and schools.  (Portland is a wonderful example of this, with over 80 different languages spoken in the homes of their students.)  That is not to say that the study of Ethnomathematics is a panacea for our current dilemma in mathematics, but it offers valuable insight as we strive to meet the needs of all of our students, not only for their own benefit but for that of society's as well.  After all, let's face it... we have a lot of catching up to do and cannot afford to waste one ounce of mathematical potential!

The other thing that pokes me in the eye as I read more, is how similar we are all over the planet (in many ways, but here I am addressing mathematics specifically); we all address the same ideas regardless of how those ideas are represented (symbols) or the procedures we use to manipulate them.  Reason gives us the logical sequel... the mark (symbol) is not the math - the real math is the IDEA represented by that mark.  Teaching IDEAS rather than MARKS seems the only reasonable choice.