Research Perspectives
There are many research perspectives regarding equity and culture in mathematics education. From the readings, there exists many authors who demonstrate different points of views and contribute to defining equity and culture within mathematics education. Within Towards Equity in Mathematics Education – Gender, Culture and Diversity, Barton (2012) comments on the philosophies behind culture and mathematics. Meanwhile, in the Critical Issues in Mathematics Education book, Barton (2009) builds off of Bishops’ (1979) earlier work regarding the socially constructed mathematics that has been created. Lastly, in Alternative Forms of Knowing (in) Mathematics – Celebrations of Diversity of Mathematical Practices, Orey and Rosa (2012) discuss the use of Ethnomoodeling and its implications.
Before delving into the different points of views in culture and mathematics, one must first define enthomathematics. According the Orey and Rosa (2012), ethno represents distinct cultural groups, mathema means to explain, while tics is “derived from techné and has the same roots as technique”. Thus, stringing everything together, ethnomathematics should mean the technique to explain different cultural groups. As such, ethnomathematics relates directly with culture and equity in mathematics. With this in mind, we can begin looking at different research perspectives.
Before delving into the different points of views in culture and mathematics, one must first define enthomathematics. According the Orey and Rosa (2012), ethno represents distinct cultural groups, mathema means to explain, while tics is “derived from techné and has the same roots as technique”. Thus, stringing everything together, ethnomathematics should mean the technique to explain different cultural groups. As such, ethnomathematics relates directly with culture and equity in mathematics. With this in mind, we can begin looking at different research perspectives.