Extracting babassu coconut oil: Mathematics Education in Quilombola communities

Abstract

This article is the result of learnings constructed from doctoral research on the knowledge and sociocultural practices of babassu coconut breakers, which aims to understand the knowledge mobilized by those women. We propose to establish connections between this sociocultural practice and Mathematics Education in Quilombola schools. As theoretical contribution, we have opted for the studies of Bakare-Yusuf, Costa, and D'Ambrosio. The study was carried out with six coconut breakers living in the Quilombola community Laranjeira, in the municipality of Aldeias Altas/MA. The theoretical-methodological orientation is based on Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology whose research method is Ethnography in Geertz. The obtained data were interpreted with the help of Ricoeurian Hermeneutics. Among the results, we have identified the mathematics practices of the Coconut Breakers as multi-epistemic and multi-ethnic knowledge. We have concluded that knowing how to Extract babassu coconut oilcan be understood by Ethnomathematics in Quilombola communities.