Development of Materials for Ethnomathematics in Korea

Abstract

D’Ambrosio (1985) used the expression ‘ethnomathematics’ to refer to forms of mathematics that vary as a consequence of being embedded in cultural activities whose purpose is other than ‘doing mathematics’. Ethnomathematics has the goal of broadening the history of mathematics to one that has a multicultural, global perspective. It involves the study and presentation of mathematical ideas of traditional peoples. This broadening of perspective to include other cultures has the associated effect of enlarging the history of mathematics from dealing primarily with the Western professional class called mathematicians to involving all sorts of people (Ascher, 1991).