Mancala e ensino da matemática: o semear de uma prática pedagógica antirracista

Abstract

In view of the new National Curriculum Guidelines on ethnic-racial relations, mathematics teaching should promote the appreciation of cultural diversity, breaking with the traditional concept of teaching, which advocates white, colonizing hegemony. However, it is known that African culture and knowledge are silenced in school curricula, leading to a lack of pedagogical practices that work on ethnic-racial relations in basic education. In this way, we need to think about important ways of making teaching effective from an anti-racist perspective. The aim of this qualitative, exploratory study is to understand the Mancala game as a didactic resource for teaching mathematics from an anti-racist perspective. Based on the concepts of Afroethnomathematics, by Costa Junior (2004), and Antiracist Pedagogy, by Pinheiro (2023), the research consists of a bibliographical study and the analysis of a pedagogical practice for teaching mathematics from the perspective of ethnic-racial relations, using a semi-structured interview as the research technique. We hope, through this article, to provoke relevant reflections on the need for an Afrocentric curriculum, as well as making readers aware of the pedagogical potential of the Mancala game, understanding its different cultural and mathematical potentialities and how its use can contribute to the implementation of Law No. 10.639/03 and to the consolidation of educational values, such as respect for ethnic-racial diversity, cooperativism and the recognition and appreciation of the identity, history and culture of African peoples.