Challenges regarding the integration of ethnomathematical perspectives into geometry teaching: The faculty reflection

A significant gap exists, as research has revealed that teaching mathematics in classrooms is usually unrelated to the sociocultural contexts of the learners. This multiple case study explored the challenges mathematics teacher educators face in integrating ethnomathematical perspectives into geometry teaching in the Ghanaian college classroom. Eight mathematics teacher educators were included in the study through purposive sampling. The data obtained through interviews and focus groups were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The mathematics teacher educators’ accounts revealed college and educator-related challenges, including inadequate/lack of cultural examples in the geometry curriculum, cultural diversity, financial constraints, time constraints, and gender discrimination. In all, the findings obtained from this qualitative investigation revealed differences among male and female mathematics teacher educators regarding what they perceive as challenges in integrating ethnomathematical perspectives into geometry teaching. For instance, male mathematics teacher educators reported inadequate/lack of cultural examples in the geometry curriculum, whereas female mathematics teachers identified gender discrimination as a challenge to their effort to integrate ethnomathematical perspectives into geometry teaching. Implications for teaching and future research are reported.