The book presents a series of ethnographic studies, which illustrate issues of wider importance, such as the role of cultural traditions, concepts and learning procedures in the development of formal (or mathematical) thinking outside of the western tradition. It focuses on research at the crossroads of anthropology and ethnomathematics to document indigenous mathematical knowledge and its inclusion in specific cultural patterns. More generally, the book demonstrates the heuristic value of crossing ethnographical, anthropological and ethnomathematical approaches to highlight and analyze—or "formalize" with a pedagogical outlook—indigenous mathematical knowledge. The book is divided into three parts. The first part extensively analyzes theoretical claims using particular ethnographic data, while revealing the structural mathematical features of different ludic, graphic, or technical/procedural practices in their links to other cultural phenomena. In the second part, new empirical studies that add data and perspectives from the body of studies on indigenous knowledge systems to the ongoing discussions in mathematics education in and for diverse cultural traditions are presented. This part considers, on the one hand, the Brazilian work in this field; on the other hand, it brings ethnographic innovation from other parts of the world. The third part comprises a broad philosophical discussion of the impact of intuitive or "ontological" premises on mathematical thinking and education in the light of recent developments within so-called indigenously inspired thinking. Finally, the editors’ conclusions aim to invite the broad and diversified field of scholars in this domain of research to seek alternative approaches for understanding mathematical reasoning and the adjacent adequate educational goals and means. This book is of interest to scholars and students in anthropology, ethnomathematics, history and philosophy of science, mathematics, and mathematics education, as well as other individuals interested in these topics.

Although the manifestation of what is taken to be indigenous knowledge could presumably be traced back roughly to the origins of humankind, the idea of indigenous knowledge is a fairly recent phenomenon. It has arguably gained conceptual and discursive currency only over the past half century, with a veritable slew of conferences, workshops, special journal editions, and anthologies devoted to the topic. Yet, there has been no treatise that offers a comprehensive, critical examination of this notion. Accounts of indigenous knowledge usually focus on explanations of “indigenous,” “local,” “traditional,” “African” and the like – but to date not a single defense of indigenous knowledge has bothered to explain the particular understanding of “knowledge” the authors are working with. Indigenous Knowledge: Philosophical and Educational Considerations’s critique of the idea of indigenous knowledge should in no way be understood as an endorsement of the evils of colonial conquest and (ongoing) exploitation, oppression, and subjugation. Nor should it be taken as an indication of a failure on the part of the Kai Horsthemke to sympathize with the struggle of indigenous peoples the world over for a dignified and sustainable way of life, for personal and communal space, and for self-determination. The aim of the book is to provide especially “indigenous” educators with theoretical tools for critical reflection and interrogation of their own and others’ preconceptions, assumptions, and epistemic practices and customs.

Ladislaus M. Semali and Joe L. Kincheloe's edited book, What is Indigenous Knowledge?: Voices from the Academy not only exposes the fault lines of modernist grand narratives, but also illuminates, in a vivid and direct way, what it means to come to subjectivity in the margins. The international panel of contributors from both industrialized and developing countries, led by Semali and Kincheloe, injects a dramatic dynamic into the analysis of knowledge production and the rules of scholarship, opening new avenues for discussion in education, philosophy, cultural studies, as well as in other important fields.

This book addresses numerous issues related to ethnomathematics and diverse approaches to it in the context of mathematics education. To help readers better understand the development of ethnomathematics, it discusses its objectives and assumptions with regard to promoting an ethics of respect, solidarity, and cooperation across and for all cultures. In turn, the book addresses a range of aspects including pedagogical action, culturally relevant pedagogy, innovative approaches to ethnomathematics, and the role of ethnomathematics in mathematics education. Ethnomathematics offers educators a valuable framework for transforming mathematics so that it can more actively contribute to realizing the dream of a just and humane society. As such, its primary goal is to forge mathematics into a powerful tool to help people create a society characterized by dignity for all, and in which iniquity, arrogance, violence, and bigotry have no place.

This collection makes a unique contribution towards the amplification of indigenous knowledge and learning by adopting an inter/trans-disciplinary approach to the subject that considers a variety of spaces of engagement around knowledge in Asia and Africa.

Most education research is undertaken in western developed countries. While some research from developing countries does make it into research journals from time to time, but these articles only emphasize the rarity of research in developing countries. The proposed book is unique in that it will cover education in Papua New Guinea over the millennia. Papua New Guinea’s multicultural society with relatively recent contact with Europe and the Middle East provides a cameo of the development of education in a country with both a colonial history and a coup-less transition to independence. Discussion will focus on specific areas of mathematics education that have been impacted by policies, research, circumstances and other influences, with particular emphasis on pressures on education in the last one and half centuries. This volume will be one of the few records of this kind in the education research literature as an in-depth record and critique of how school mathematics has been grown in Papua New Guinea from the late 1800s, and should be a useful addition to graduate programs mathematics education courses, history of mathematics, as well as the interdisciplinary fields of cross cultural studies, scholarship focusing on globalization and post / decolonialism, linguistics, educational administration and policy, technology education, teacher education, and gender studies.

This book presents a collection of ethnomathematical studies of diverse mathematical practices in Afro-Brazilian, indigenous, rural and urban communities in Brazil. Ethnomathematics as a research program aims to investigate the interrelationships of local mathematical knowledge sources with broader universal forms of mathematics to understand ideas, procedures, and practices found in distinct cultural groups. Based on this approach, the studies brought together in this volume show how this research program is applied and practiced in a culturally diverse country such as Brazil, where African, indigenous and European cultures have generated different forms of mathematical practice. These studies present ethnomathematics in action, as a tool to connect the study of mathematics with the students’ real life experiences, foster critical thinking and develop a mathematics curriculum which incorporates contributions from different cultural groups to enrich mathematical knowledge. By doing so, this volume shows how ethnomathematics can contribute in practice to the development of a decolonial mathematics education. Ethnomathematics in Action: Mathematical Practices in Brazilian Indigenous, Urban and Afro Communities will be of interest to educators and educational researchers looking for innovative approaches to develop a more inclusive, democratic, critical, multicultural and multiethnic mathematics education.

This book builds upon the range of Indigenous theory and research found in Volume I and applies these learnings to interventions in schools, communities, teacher education and professional development. It is part of a two-volume set addresses a growing recognition that interdisciplinary, cross-cultural and cross-hybrid learning is needed to foster scientific and cultural understandings and move STEM learning toward more just and sustainable futures for all learners. Authors working in Eurocentric settings of schools and colleges—whether in the continental or island United States, Canada, Thailand, Taiwan or Chuuk—utilize storytelling, place, language and experiential learning to engage students in meaningful, highly contextualized study that honors ancestral knowledge and practices. They recognize that their disciplines have been structured and colonized by Eurocentric/American frameworks that lack storied, ethical contexts developed through living sustainably in particular places. Recognizing that students seeking to enter STEM majors and careers now must be knowledgeable in multiple ways, authors describe innovative ways to immerse precollege learners as well as developing and practicing teachers in settings that intersect culture, place, heritage language, and praxis that enable Indigenous and local knowledge to become central to learning. Twenty-first century technologies of distance learning, digital story-telling, and mapping technologies now enable formerly marginalized, minoritized groups to share their worldviews and systems of knowledge.

This text explores the multidisciplinary context of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems from scholars and scholar activists committed to the interrogation, production, articulation, dissemination and general development of endogenous and indigenous modes of intellectual activity and praxis. The work reinforces the demand for the decolonization of the academy and makes the case for a paradigmatic shift in content, subject matter and curriculum in institutions in Africa and elsewhere – with a view to challenging and rejecting disinformation and intellectual servitude. Indigenous intellectual discourses related to diverse disciplines take center stage in this volume with a focus on education, mathematics, medicine, chemistry and engineering in their historical and contemporary context.