Intertwining the Ethnomathematics and the Deaf Culture to Promote Financial Education for Deaf Students

Abstract

This article is an excerpt obtained from a master degree dissertation that discussed the contributions of ethnomathematics and Deaf Culture toward the promotion of mathematics education of bilingual Deaf students regarding financial education. This qualitative research was conducted in a public school specialized in working with Deaf students. It is located in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. The theoretical foundation of this study was based on an ethnomathematical perspective for the development of financial education of Deaf students. The data of this study were collected through the recorded mathematical activities, the teacher-researcher’s field diary, and semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed and interpreted according to the assumptions of the Grounded Theory. The results of this study indicated that the conduction of mathematics classes from the perspective of ethnomathematics and a bilingual education approach was essential for the development of Mathematics Education of Deaf students since Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) was used as the first language of instruction of the students in this study and Portuguese in its written modality as their second language. The use of teaching methodologies that value and respect Deaf Culture associated with the elaboration of mathematical activities based on an ethnomathematical perspective, which were taught in Libras, can become an ideal combination promoting valuable moments of discussion, reflection in teaching and learning mathematics for Deaf students.