Obstacles to integrate ethnomathematics in mathematics classrooms

Resumen

This paper present partial results of the doctoral research "The Training of Teachers who Teach Math using Ethnomathematics: Elements for Reflection", its general objective is to identify elements for the design of teacher training programs since ethnomathematics. Specifically, this exposes the study of the veracity of two conjectures: teachers do not recognize mathematical extracurricular activities as math, and 2, this position obstructs the use of this knowledge in the classroom. A qualitative methodology for case studies was used. The case is a training course for teachers from ethnomathematics made in Tumaco, Colombia between July and October 2012. The empirical material was a group interview recorded in audio and were transcribed and analyzed with the theoretical model "MEDIPSA" which in its epistemological component includes the Wittgenstein’s philosophy of mathematics. The findings, according to our conjectures, indicate that there is an obstacle between extracurricular math and school math because teachers doubt the mathematical value of extracurricular math. This conclusion gives us lights to outline the first element to consider in teacher training, which has to do with the epistemic openness to what is mathematics.