An Ethnographic Study of the Mathematical Ideas of a Group of Carpenters

Abstract Mathematical knowledge, primarily the practice of arithmetic, which is developed outside of educational institutions by people engaged in their daily working and domestic activities, has been documented. The idea that different forms of mathematics may develop as a result of different modes of thinking and different environmental demands across cultural groups, has been suggested by research in ethnomathematics. However, there exist no clear guidelines for recognising and describing such culture-specific mathematics, which may differ significantly from the conventional view of mathematics. This article describes a study of the mathematical ideas of a group of carpenters, focusing mainly on their geometric ideas, and provides an account of the methodological strategy which was used. The researcher conducted an ethnographic study over the period of six months, working as an apprentice with a group of carpenters in Cape Town, South Africa. One descriptive example of an interaction with two carpenters involved in problem solving is analyzed in this article. The results show that the carpenters engaged in a wide variety of mathematizing activities in order to solve the problem.

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