Sowing african knowledges: decolonizing mathematics in basic education

Abstract

This article is an integral part of a master's research that sought to investigate the potential of the African games of the Mancala family in basic education, from the teaching narratives. Reflecting on the coloniality of knowledge and the occurrence of epistemic acts against African cultures from the dominant colonial thought, especially in Latin American territories. We present aspects of mathematical, scientific and philosophical knowledge that are present in the Mancala games as a form of resistance against to various forms of cultural violence. For that, we conducted narrative interviews and content analysis, in order to understand, conceptions and values that emerged from the interviewees' speeches. We also seek to understand to what extent, their conceptions about the use of Mancala family games can contribute to the teaching of an anti-racist, decolonial mathematics committed to diversity social justice and the transformation of representations about the cultures of African and Afro-descendant peoples.