Lessons learned from a community math project: Ethnomathematical games & opportunities for teacher leadership

Abstract

Minority Access to Revolutionary Instructional Extensions (MATRIX) is a two-part supplemental elementary mathematics curriculum based on six games coupled with a focus on parental involvement and advocacy. One curricular goal incorporates student’s culture into its design to show mathematics comes from many cultures and is an evolving discipline in which students can be active participants. The article data comes from a larger pilot study conducted in a rural African American community. This article speaks specifically about the ethnomathematical games in the curriculum in addition to discussing the “lessons learned” by the researchers for the opportunity for teachers to be leaders in incorporating community cultures into classroom practice