CONSTRUINDO DIÁLOGOS ENTRE AS AULAS DE MATEMÁTICA E A CULTURA NEGRA

BUILDING DIALOGUES BETWEEN MATHEMATICS CLASSES AND BLACK CULTURE

Abstract

For many years, Academic Mathematics has seen as universal. This idea comes from the imposed status that ‘European Mathematics’ is the only one, the correct and unique. When the Ethnomathematics has risen, the old and stablished idea about mathematics started to be questioned. It has opened the possibility to recognize ‘Academic Mathematics’ as ‘just one sort of mathematics’ but not the only one. The new idea allows other mathematic approaches to be recognized, validated and valued. Seeking for more information about the principles of Ethnomathematics, a Master’s thesis has been found. That thesis explores narrative constructions, bringing the school life closer to mathematic classes and ethnic relations. After reading that thesis, a new concern has emerged and then, it became the core question to the present research: ‘Is it possible to build dialogues between Black Culture and Mathematic classes?’ Thus, the objective of the present research is to build dialogues between mathematic classes and black culture. In order to achieve this goal, three researchers have been interviewed. These researchers have developed, at their Master’s thesis, connections between mathematics and black culture. These interviews, as well as the reflection from reading the other authors who also work with ethnoeducation, allowed us to realize that, it is indeed possible to establish dialogues between Black Culture and Mathematic classes. The present research brings a remarkable contribution in terms of showing how the dialogue between Black Culture and Mathematics is essential to build self-esteem, self-awareness, belonging, identification, representativeness and anti-racist postures.