O potencial dos jogos da familia mancala para um ensino de matemática antirracista nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental

Abstract

This study emerged from the following epistemological curiosity: “What are the potentialities of the awelé game, from the mancala family, for the development of anti-racist mathematics teaching practices, in the context of the early years of elementary school?” Its general objective was to investigate theoretical-methodological possibilities for the exploration of the awelé game in the context of pedagogical practices focused on anti-racist mathematics teaching aimed at children of the 2nd year of Elementary School. Specifically, it aimed to: understand the relationships between racism, epistemicide and colonialism in a capitalist society and their repercussions on pedagogical practices developed in the early years of Elementary School; explore the awelé game with a view to developing a Didactic Sequence that mobilizes mathematical knowledge and focuses on the anti-racist struggle; and to evaluate the limits and potential of the awelé game for the development of teaching proposals focused on combating the epistemicide of ancestral mathematical knowledge. From the methodological point of view, it is a qualitative research carried out in three stages: Theoretical-bibliographic study; Exploratory Research and Participatory Research. At first, a theoretical-bibliographic study was carried out on the concepts of racism and epistemicide and, in the form of a case report, pedagogical practices with an anti-racist theme developed in the same public school in Arapiraca-AL were presented. Subsequently, an Exploratory Research was carried out on the potential of the awelé game for the teaching of mathematical concepts, in an anti-racist perspective. This movement favored the development of a proposal for a Didactic Sequence aimed at the 2nd year of Elementary School. This Didactic Sequence was structured in four stages: a) 1st Stage: Origins, Logic and Rules of the Awelé Game; b) 2nd Stage: Building a board for the awelé game; c) 3rd Stage: Understanding Rules, Strategies and Playing the awelé game with pairs; d) 4th Stage: Reflections on mathematical problems based on the rules and strategies of the awelé game. Continuing, a Participating Research was developed with a class of 21 students who took the discipline "Knowledge and Methodologies of Mathematics Teaching 2", in the first academic semester of 2021, in the Pedagogy Course of the Federal University of Alagoas, Campus Arapiraca. Through the Participant Research, the Didactic Sequence proposal was applied to this class, with the necessary adaptations depending on the COVID-19 Pandemic context and the implementation of Emergency Remote Teaching. In order to capture these students' conceptions about the proposed Didactic Sequence, a semi-structured press conference was held with the 14 students who were present. The interview was recorded on Google Meet, transcribed and the material was interpreted in light of the Content Analysis approach. As a result of these analyses, the following emerging categories were produced: a) The old becomes new; b) The contemporary relationship between subsistence agriculture and the awelé game; c) Different ways, different rules, different playing strategies; d) Capitalist and anti-capitalist values in awelé games; e) The experience of playing the awelé game with the family; f) The experience with the digital awelé game; g) Mobilization of mathematical concepts with the awelé game; h) Would I, as a pedagogue, use the awelé game in my math classes? Finally, as an Educational Product, through this investigation, it was possible to develop and improve a Didactic Sequence that focuses on the exploration of the awelé game with a view to teaching mathematical concepts, in an anti-racist perspective.