Philosophical concepts of creative insubordination in ethnomodelling research

Abstract

The application of modelling methods makes sense to researchers and educators when these professionals examine the mathematical patterns developed by members of distinct cultures. Currently, an important issue in mathematics education is its tendency towards valuing a local orientation in its research paradigm. Thus, a search for innovative methodologies such as ethnomodeling is necessary to record the historical forms of mathematical ideas, procedures, and practices developed in diverse cultural contexts. Yet, ethnomodeling is not an attempt to replace globalized school/academic mathematics, however, it is necessary to recognize the existence of local mathematical knowledge in the school curriculum. This context enabled the emergence of creative insubordination of ethnomodeling as it evoked a disturbance that caused a revision of the rules and regulations in the mathematical modelling process. This process triggered a debate about the nature of mathematics in relation to culture by proposing a dialogue between local and global approaches in dialogical ways. Thus, the main objective of this article is to discuss the philosophy of ethnomodeling as a creative insubordination of mathematics education and also as a process of glocalization.