Mathematics Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Integrating Ethnic Mathematics in Teaching Mathematical Topics: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

This study aimed to provide an integrated picture of teachers' attitudes toward ethnic mathematics, an approach to teaching school mathematics. It addressed four main dimensions: knowledge of ethnic mathematics, the current extent of its integration in teaching, perceptions toward it as a pedagogical approach and obstacles that limit its integration. The study adopted mixed methods and followed an explanatory sequential design. The quantitative aspect employed the descriptive survey method, collecting data through an electronic questionnaire comprising 33 items distributed over 4 dimensions. This was followed by qualitative interviews conducted to interpret the results of the quantitative analysis. In total, 104 mathematics teachers participated in the quantitative survey and 4 teachers participated in the qualitative interviews. There were several interesting findings, the most important of which are that mathematics teachers’ have only an average level of knowledge of ethnomathematics, they hold positive perceptions toward it in general, and they generally have positive conceptions about it. However, there are many obstacles that limit its integration in teaching, including students' beliefs about the limited use of mathematics in daily life. The study also found no statistically significant differences in the level of knowledge and integration of ethnomathematics attributable to gender, teaching experience, or teaching stage. The study makes several recommendations, the most significant being that meetings and workshops are needed to educate teachers about ethnomathematics and how to discover and integrate it in teaching school subjects.