Ethnomathematics encounters with a Postgraduate class

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present a report on a class taught by master's students in the subject Teaching Work and Internship: Theory and Practice, of the Postgraduate Program in Education at the State University of Montes Claros, highlighting the encounter between Ethnomathematics and researchers in training. To this end, the methodology is based on observations, discussions and reflections generated through the class and the practice carried out in the classroom. We held a mock lesson with 32 students, introducing Ethnomathematics and then practicing using Mancala. This led to fruitful discussions, questions were raised and the feedback from the participants was positive. The main results show that the game provides opportunities to develop different cognitive skills, especially counting, numerical sequences, symmetry, logical reasoning and basic operations. We conclude that the experience of providing a dynamic and contextualized lesson allowed us to experience a moment of knowledge exchange, contributing to our training process, highlighting the importance of different methodological strategies in the teaching of mathematics, not just prioritizing formalized teaching.