As crianças ciganas nas feiras e na escola — os seus métodos de cálculo mental

Abstract

This work has arisen from the acknowledgement of a growing ethnic and cultural diversity of students in our schools. Since there is still little research done on the Gypsy community and mathematics, we thought it was pertinent to study mental arithmetic as practiced within this community. The problem we were studying concerned the possible integration of the characteristic calculation processes of this community in mathematics education, in an intercultural perspective.

From the study, both in school and in market fairs, is important to stress the existence of distinctive ways to perform mental calculation. The analysis has shown good mental calculation skills, well-developed sense of operations, positional value acquired, and distinctive methods. We conclude that school should acknowledge the significant learning these children bring, and promote interchange between the Gypsy and non-Gypsy communities.