Have You Seen

"Have You Seen" is a regular feature of the ISGEm Newsletter in which works related to Ethnomathematics can be reviewed. We encourage all those interested to contribute to this column.

D'Ambrosio, Ubiratan (1990). Etnomatematica: Arte ou Tecnica de Explicar e Conhecer, Editora Atica, Caixa Postal 8656, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

In this volume Professor D'Ambrosio presents in Portuguese his vision of Ethnomathematics and supports each chapter with an extensive bibliography. Among the topics he treats are "Values in the Teaching of Mathematics", "An Alternative Proposal", "On Creativity and a Conceptual Transition in Modern Science", "Some Reflections on the Future", "An Anthropological Focus on Mathematics and its Teaching', "Scientific Knowledge and the Search for Alternative Methodologies", "Critical Vocabulary" and "Annotated Bibliography".

(Rick Scott)

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Saavedra, Holger and Villavicencio, Martha. Hacia una estandarizacion de vocablos quechuas en Matematica, Lima, Enero, 1990, 85 pages.

This document contains a proposal of Quechua words to standardize in the Mathematic class in the Bilingual Primary School. This proposal has been formulated after research into the words that are used in the Quechua communities of Peru.

The document has been distributed free of charge by OEI in the "III Symposium so Iberoamericano de Educacion Matematica" developed in Sevilla from September 20 to 22, 1990.

(Martha Villavicencio)

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Villavicencio, Martha (1990). La Matematica en La Educacion Biliugue: El caso de Puno. Lima, Peru. Edited with the support Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). 193 pages.

This document has been structured in three parts. In the first part an overview of the Mathematic Education of the Peruvian Indians from the Pre-Inca period to the Republic, and a summary of the history of the impact of Western Mathematics and the trends of the Mathematic Education since 1950.

The second part contains the systematization of the experiences in the implementation and development of a methodological alternative and educational materials for the Mathematics Education in the Experimental Project of Bilingual Education (Quechua-Spanish and Aimara-Spanish in the highlands of Puno in southern Peru, from 1980 to 1990. In this Project the Mathematic Education is based on the Quechua or Aimara culture.

In the last part a set of reflections are presented on the many needs and the tasks needed urgently to realize the improvement of the Intercultural/Bilingual Mathematics Education in the Indian population of Peru.

(Martha Villavicencio)

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Mensh, Elaine & Larry Mensh (1991). The IQ Mythology. Class, Race, Gender and Inequality. Southern Illinois University Press, (800)848-4270, Ext. 950. 200 pages; ISBN 0-8093-1668, $19.95.

In their expose of IQ testing as a pseudoscience, the Menshes offer a wealth of evidence to show that IQ tests and tests of "aptitude," such as the SAT, have as their prime purpose to justify the placement of children in either superior or inferior educational settings on the basis of their race, gender, and class. They are equally scathing in their denunciation of the hereditarian and the environmentalist schools of thought about the supposed inability of certain groups in the population to profit from the best educational resources. Whether the judgment that "this child can't learn" is based on a theory that girls' brains are not suited to learning math or that the "culture of poverty" prevents African-American children from profiting from an enriched educational climate, the outcomes are the same - some children are deprived.

The Menshes trace the history of IQ testing from the original Binet tests right up to recent court cases challenging the use of such tests to place children, as in California, or to award scholarships, as in New York State. Although the names and the forms of the tests may change in response to attacks on their use, the purposes and results are the same.

One chapter is devoted to the use of various tests in African countries, particularly South Africa, and should be of special interest to members of ISGEm.

One disturbing feature of the book is the tendency of the authors to use out-of-context quotations from other books in order to justify their arguments, thereby possibly distorting the views of other writers. In general, however, they make a good case for branding the whole field of IQ testing a pseudoscience.

(Claudia Zaslavsky)

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Zaslavsky, Claudia (February 1991). "Multicultural Mathematics Education in the Middle Grades:" Arithmetic Teacher: pp 8-13.

The author introduced several activities based on African cultures to students in grades six and nine. The sixth graders carried out a project involving area and perimeter of homes constructed by some African peoples, and learned through their own hands--on experiences that the circular home would afford the largest amount of floor space for a given amount of materials for the walls. Yet teachers engaged in the same project in an inservice course took a short cut and merely applied formulas, entirely negating the goals of the project. Both sixth and ninth grade students analyzed sand drawings in the form of traceable networks made by children in Zaire in imitation of adult fishing nets and embroidery patterns, and by adults in Angola to accompany storytelling and learning experiences for the young. Students' evaluations indicated that these experiences broadened their understanding of other cultures and engaged their interest mathematically.

(Claudia Zaslavsky)

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Educators Against Racism and Apartheid (EARA) (1990). Apartheid Is Wrong: A Curriculum for Young
People. 308 pages in three-ring binder. Order from EARA, 164-04 Goethals Avenue, Jamaica, NY 11432
USA. $17.00 + $5.00 p&h.

Multidisciplinary, hands-on curriculum dealing with apartheid in South Africa and racism in the U.S., for teachers, librarians, community groups, and parents of young people. Includes lessons and projects in all subject areas, K- 12. Most of the mathematics lessons were written by ISGEm member Claudia Zaslavsky.

(Claudia Zaslavsky)