Potencialidades do Jogo Africano Mancala IV para o campo da educação matemática, história e cultura africana

Abstract

The Law 10.639 / 03 deals with the compulsory inclusion of the teaching of history and afro-Brazilian culture, in schools teaching fundamental and medium, official and private. To this end, becomes required the training and capacity building of teachers in various areas of knowledge. In the field of mathematics, we concluded in the master's research, the possibility to articulate the teaching of mathematics to the Law 10.639/03, through in African Games, in particular, the Mancala game. Mancala is the term used of designate a family with more than two hundred variations of pits games, ranked by Mancala II, III and IV. At the master's, the research focused on Mancala II, as this is a variation of easy handling and the best known in the Western world. Already Mancala IV, is best known in East Africa and Asia. It is the most complex variation of these games, both in handling and in the mathematical operations involved in their practice. Moreover, this variation brings cultural practices from East Africa, little known to us Westerners. In this context, we realize the need to deepen the research that started in the master's with Mancala II for Mancala IV. In this sense, the thesis aims to investigate the potential of the African game Mancala IV to the field of mathematics education, the teaching of history and African culture. To this end, if intends build math concepts, as well as, build knowledge of African history and culture through from concrete situations of the game. This is a qualitative research with exploratory approach, kind ethnographic, which had as locus of research, three cities of Nampula Province in Mozambique. The research subjects were a group of thirty people, some of them members of the Provincial Association of Traditional Games of Nampula, others, intellectuals of the field of philosophy and sociology and, the vast majority, with little schooling. In Mozambique, the research was focused on two variations of Mancala IV, the M'pale and Mthadje. In the field of African history and culture, we concluded in the research what this game contributes to preserve the cultural identity of the African because, while they play, the elders teach to the younger, knowledges African ancestors. In practice the game, also if transmits philosophical and social values that contribute to living together collective. Among the studied african cultural referentials, we find the circularity, sharing, collectivity, ancestry, african worldview, religiosity, playfulness and orality. These references are also present in civilizing values african-Brazilians. In reazon of this, we concluded in this study that the Mancala IV game can also contribute for teaching history and afro-Brazilian culture. The Mancala IV is a strategy game that requires a lot of concentration and mental speed. It is mathematical game because in them are involved the mental calculation and simple and complex mathematical operations in his practice. The various possibilities of movements must be leveraged to build mathematical concepts systematized by the school. In this sense, we consider that this game can to be defined, depending on the orientation of the teacher, as a teaching material for the field of mathematics education, pedagogy, teaching history and afro-Brazilian culture and african.