Journal of Transformative Praxis

Journal of Transformative Praxis, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2020, 25-35, https://doi.org/10.3126/jrtp.v1i1.31758

Online publication date: Jun 30, 2020

Publication date: Dec 31, 2020

Views: 46 | Downloads: 38

An impasse in mathematics education is related to its frequent lack of acknowledgment of local mathematical practices in its research theoretical basis. Pedagogical action of ethnomathematics aids in recording cultural-historical forms of mathematical procedures and practices developed by members of distinct cultural groups. Ethnomathematics is a form of push back from colonization without attempting to replace academic mathematics. Hence, a sense of insubordination triggered by ethnomathematics is creative and often evokes a sense of disturbance that causes a conscious review of rules and regulations endemic to many curricular and educational research contexts. This process enables educators and investigators to adopt positive deviance in developing pedagogical actions that deal with content usually disconnected from the reality of the students in order to deal with imposed norms and rules. Thus, positive deviance involves an intentional act of bending the rules in order to serve the greater good of the school communities.

Cultural groups Ethnomathematics Pedagogical action Positive deviance

1. Ascher, M. (2002). Mathematics elsewhere: An exploration of ideas across cultures. Princeton University Press.
2. Clancy, T. R. (2010). Diamonds in the rough: Positive deviance and complexity. Journal of Nursing Administration, 40(2), 53-56.
3. Cortes, D. P. O. (2017). Re-significando os conceitos de função: um estudo misto para entender as contribuições da abordagem dialógica da etnomodelagem [Re-signifying function concepts: a mixed methods study to understand the contributions of dialogic approach of ethnomathematics]. Dissertação de mestrado. Departamento de Educação Matemática. Ouro Preto, MG: UFOP.
4. Crowson, R. L., & Morris, V. C. (1982). The principal’s role in organizational goal attainment: discretionary management at the school site level. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (pp. 19-23). AERA.
5. D’Ambrosio, B. S., & Lopes, C. E. (2015). Creative insubordination in Brazilian mathematics education research. Lulu Press.
6. D’Ambrosio, U. (1985). Ethnomathematics and its place in the history and pedagogy of mathematics. For the Learning of Mathematics, 5(1), 44-48.
7. D’Ambrosio, U. (2011). Non-killing mathematics. In J. Evans Pim (Ed.), Engineering nonkilling: Scientific responsibility and the advancement of killing-free societies (pp. 121-148). Center for Global Nonkilling.
8. D’Ambrosio. U. (2006). The program ethnomathematics and the challenges of globalization. Circumscribere: International Journal for the History of Science, 1, 74-82.
9. Dodge, D. L. (1985). The over-negativized conceptualization of deviance: A programmatic exploration. Deviant Behavior, 6, 17-37.
10. Duarte, C. G. (2004). Implicações curriculares a partir de um olhar sobre o mundo da construção civil [Curricular implications concerning the world of civil construction]. In G. Knijnik, F. Wanderer, & C. J. Oliveira (Eds.). Etnomatemática: Currículo e formação de professores [Ethnomathematics: Curriculum and teacher education] (pp. 195-215). Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil: EDUNISC.
11. Fielding, K. S., Hogg, M. A., & Annandale, N. (2006). Reactions to positive deviance: Social identity and attribution dimensions. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 9(2), 199-218. Fitzsimons, G. A. (2003). What counts as mathematics? Technologies of power in adult and vocational education. ZDM, 35(6), 323-324.
12. François, K. (2010). The role of ethnomathematics within mathematics education. In Proceedings of CERME 6 (pp. 1517-1526). CERME.
13. Gary, J. C. (2013). Exploring the concept and use of positive deviance in nursing. American Journal of Nursing, 113(8), 26-34.
14. Hutchinson, S. A. (1990). Responsible subversion: A study of rule-bending among nurses. Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice, 4(1), 1-3.
15. Lloyd, J. C. (2011). For clues to HAI prevention, seek out positive deviance. Healthcare Purchasing News, 35(1), 46-47.
16. Orey, D. C. (2000). The ethnomathematics of the Sioux tipi and cone. In Selin, H. (Ed.). Mathematics across culture: the history of non-western mathematics (pp. 239-252). Kluwer Academic Publishers.
17. Pascale, R. T., Sternin, J., & Sternin, M. (2010). The power of positive deviance: How unlikely innovators solve the world’s toughest problems. Harvard University Press.
18. Pike, K. L. (1967). Language in relation to a unified theory of the structure of human behavior (2 nd ed). Mouton.
19. Pinheiro, R. C. (2017). Contribuições do programa etnomatemática para o desenvolvimento da educação financeira de alunos Surdos que se comunicam em Libras [Contributions of the ethnomathematics program to the development of financial education of Deaf students who communicate in the Brazilian sign language]. Dissertação de Mestrado. Departamento de Educação Matemática. Ouro Preto, MG: UFOP.
20. Polet, P., Vanderhaegen, F., & Amalberti, R. (2003). Modelling the border-line tolerated conditions of use. Safety Science, 41(1), 111-136.
21. Rhodes, C. (1995). Primitivism and modern art. Thames & Hudson.
22. Rosa, M., & Orey, D, C. (2019a). Ethnomathematics as the art of translating mathematical practices. For the learning of Mathematics, 30(2), 19-24.
23. Rosa, M., & Orey, D. C. (2007). Cultural assertions and challenges towards pedagogical action of an ethnomathematics program. For the Learning of Mathematics, 277(1), 10-16.
24. Rosa, M., & Orey, D. C. (2013). Ethnomodeling as a research theoretical framework on ethnomathematics and mathematical modeling. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 6(2), 62-80.
25. Rosa, M., & Orey, D. C. (2015). Three approaches in the research field of ethnomodeling: Emic (local), etic (global), and dialogical (glocal). Revista Latinoamericana de Etnomatemática, 8(2), 364-380.
26. Rosa, M., & Orey, D. C. (2017). Concepts of positive deviance in pedagogical action in an ethnomathematics program. REnCiMa, 8(4), 62-79.
27. Rosa, M., & Orey, D. C. (2019b). Ethnomathematics and the responsible subversion of its pedagogical action: an investigation based on three anthropological approaches. Revista Brasileira de Estudos Pedagógicos, 100(254), 191-209.
28. Samovar, L. A., & Porter, R. E. (2000). Communication between cultures. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
29. Tarantino, D. P. (2005). Positive deviance as a tool for organizational change. Physician Executive, 31(5), 62–3.
30. Wishik S. M., & Van der Vynckt, S. (1976). The use of nutritional positive deviants to identify approaches for modification of dietary practices. American Journal of Public Health, 66(1), 38-42.
31. Zeitlin, M., Ghassemi, H., & Mansour, M. (1990). Positive deviance in child nutrition with emphasis on psychosocial and behavioural aspects and implications for development. The United Nations University.

We would like to express our special thanks of gratitude to our guru, mentor and dear friend Ubiratan D’Ambrosio who is our great inspiration in developing our research as well as our writings.

There was no funding in relation to this article.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.