Gambians don’t like maths? : A Minor Field study on how mathematics is taught in a primary school in the Gambia

Abstract: In this text about the mathematics education in a primary school in the Gambia, I am researching what this mathematics education consists of and what surrounding factors might be affecting it. The pupils of the school in question speak several different languages. This language situation is one of the factors considered in the research. A connection between the real life led by the pupils and their mathematics education was a second factor. The third factor is financial resources or the lack thereof. I wanted to see if a lack of sufficient financial resources was visible in forming the education and the teaching of the pupils. The teaching of mathematics in the school seemed to be based on behaviourism, but could perhaps take benefit from the ethnomathematics perspective. Through observations, analyzing documents and an interview, I realized that the government had set ambitious objectives for the teachers to follow, but due to lack of economical resources, as far as my study found, these are not achieved. As ambitious objectives, which are not followed by sufficient funding is an issue not only applicable in Gambian schools and since Sweden is a growing multicultural society, I can use my knowledge from this study in my work in Swedish schools.