Ethno-mathematics, ethno-knowledge, and ethno-education

Resumen

Why study math? Because it organizes the mind! This was Lena's answer. The quote from Lomonosov (1776) expresses the unequivocal view of Lena and her fellow immigrant math teachers from the FSU. This maxim, however, runs counter to the view of mathematics held by veteran math teachers in Israel who see their discipline as a vehicle for developing critical and creative thinking. This dichotomy illustrates only the tip of the iceberg of two contrasting pedagogic cultures that met in the early 1990s, when Israel was inundated by a massive wave of immigration from the FSU, many of them math teachers. Based on the assumption that mathematics and math instruction are devoid of values and tradition, the new immigrants and Israeli authorities were certain that after basic language skills had been acquired the FSU teachers would smoothly and quickly assimilate into the state system. This assumption proved completely illusory. Research, that was aimed to characterize the differences between math education in the FSU and Israel, showed that cultural and social values inevitably permeate the classroom and daily teaching practices. For example, the FSU teachers' highest admiration for hard work per se, was reflected in their preference for teaching massive algebraic manipulations rather than thought-inducing and investigative tasks. The FSU immigrants' authoritarian social outlook was expressed in their anti-constructivist instructional approach. The Soviet tradition of strict hierarchical supervision set their evaluation methods and teacher-pupil interaction, and so forth. The FSU-Israeli cultural encounter forced the assimilators to re-examine, re-evaluate, and modify their values. The research concludes with a model for the joint empowerment of assimilators and newcomers, without patronizing tendencies, through dialogue and mutual respect.