INVESTIGATION OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS' VIEWS ON ETHNOMATHEMATICS-BASED MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTION
Abstract
The study aims to examine primary school teachers' awareness, views, classroom practices, and challenges regarding ethnomathematics-based mathematics instruction. The research was carried out with 15 primary school teachers working in the Aegean Region using maximum variation sampling and was designed as a case study, one of the qualitative research methods. Qualitative content analysis was performed on the data collected through the semi-structured interview form. The research data showed that most participants had never heard of the term “ethnomathematics.” Most of them, however, used carpet/rug patterns, local dishes, historical sites, etc. as cultural codes in mathematics lessons. Most of the teachers involved in the research stated that the implementation of ethnomathematics-based practices could enhance children’s interest in and motivation for the lesson. Moreover, based on the interviews about the textbooks used by the teachers, the teachers stated that the existing textbooks were not sufficient to reflect local culture. In addition, according to the teachers, systemic factors such as curriculum density, time constraints, and a lack of materials were the main impediments to implementation. The study found that although the teachers lacked theoretical knowledge of ethnomathematics, they incorporated cultural elements through their pedagogical intuition. In this context, the study suggests that practical workshops should be organized for teachers and that digital and printed materials specific to local culture should be provided.
Keywords
Ethnomathematics, primary school teachers, mathematics education, teacher views.
Supporting Institution
No funding was received from any individual or institution for this research.
Ethical Statement
This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Uşak University. The ethics approval was granted on 15.01.2026 under the protocol number 2026-13. All procedures involving human participants were conducted in accordance with institutional and national ethical standards, the Helsinki Declaration, and applicable regulations. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. The authors used Gemini solely for language refinement and grammar correction during the revision process. No AI tool was used to generate research ideas, theoretical content, data, analysis, or interpretations. All substantive intellectual contributions were made by the authors. The authors declare no conflict of interest.
References
- Abiam, P. O., Abonyi, O. S., Ugama, J. O., & Okafor, G. (2016). Effects of ethnomathematics-based instructional approach on primary school pupils' achievement in geometry. Journal of Scientific Research and Reports, 9(2), 1 15. https://doi.org/10.9734/JSRR/2016/19079
- Adam, S. (2004). Ethnomathematical ideas in the curriculum. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 16(2), 49-68. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03217395
- Aktekin, D. (2017). Etnomatematik [Ethnomathematics] [Unpublished master's thesis]. Kocaeli University.
- Arı, A. A., & Demir, B. (2022). Matematiksel modellemenin kültürel perspektifi: Etnomodelleme [Cultural perspective of mathematical modelling: Ethnomodelling]. The Journal of Cultural Studies, (12), 253-270. https://doi.org/10.46250/kulturder.1067167
- Ariani, A. V., & Suswandari, M. (2024). The impact of ethnomathematics application on mathematics learning achievement in fourth grade at SD Negeri 02 Bekonang. Numerical: Jurnal Matematika dan Pendidikan Matematika, 8(2), 11 19. https://doi.org/10.25217/numerical.v8i2.5614
- Astuti, E. P., Wijaya, A., & Hanum, F. (2024). Characteristics of junior high school teachers' beliefs in developing students' numeracy skills through ethnomathematics-based numeracy learning. Journal of Pedagogical Research, 8(1), 244 268. https://doi.org/10.33902/JPR.202423405
- Bahadır, E. (2021). Göçmen öğrencilerin matematik eğitiminde etnomatematik yaklaşımının kullanılması [Ethnomathematics approach in mathematics education for migrant students]. Milli Eğitim Dergisi, 50(1), 577 594. https://doi.org/10.37669/milliegitim.959829
- Batiibwe, M. S. K. (2025). Ethnomathematics as a pedagogical tool for mathematics education: Opportunities and challenges. SN Social Sciences 5, 221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-025-01260-0
- Baştürk, S. (2025). Integration of rural artefacts into mathematics teaching: Ethnomathematical activities design. In Mathematics Beyond the Classroom: A Guide for Expansive Learning in Out-of-School Environments (pp. 267-301). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-05318-3_12
- Bishop, A. (1994). Cultural conflicts in mathematics education: Developing a research agenda. For the Learning of Mathematics, 14(2), 15-18. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40248109
