!FREE! Download Morabaraba For Pc

For many years, education in South Africa has been based mainly on western values. This has contributed to the fact that many learners from disadvantaged backgrounds cannot see the connection between the education they receive at school and their everyday experiences. This may well have contributed to the high failure rate amongst mathematics learners as well as the perceived difficulty of mathematics. It is believed that indigenous knowledge, in general, can be used to promote the teaching of mathematics in multicultural classes. We report on an enquiry into the use of the indigenous game of morabaraba in the mathematics class. Various mathematical concepts have been identified from the game. It was found that learners enjoy playing the game, and that it can be used in the mathematics classroom to promote the learning of mathematics. It was also found that the use of this game promotes spontaneous interaction amongst learners as they communicate their activities to fellow participants. The enjoyment of the game was found not to be restricted to a specific cultural group, which suggests that it can be used in a multicultural setting.

Our aim in this article is to show that some cultural aspects related to indigenous games can be incorporated in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Examples used for illustration in this article have been trialled in South African mathematics classrooms. This has been done by incorporating mathematical activities identified from the analysis of the indigenous game of morabaraba, a game played in different communities in South Africa and other neighbouring countries, like Lesotho and Mozambique. The Mindsports Games in South Africa (formerly known as the South African War Games Union) has, over that past 10 years, promoted the game by organising clubs and competitions nationally and supporting international participation in related competitions.

Download Morabaraba For Pc

Download File 🔥 https://byltly.com/2y7NnF 🔥

Contexts in which mathematics is used in different cultures have already been documented by many authors, amongst others Mosimege (2005) and Vithal (1992). Various mathematics concepts that can be identified in different indigenous games can be related to both geometry and algebra and other points of focus in mathematics. We focus here on examples found in indigenous games, in particular morabaraba (also known as 'mmela' by some Sotho speakers and 'umlabalaba' by the Nguni speakers). Mosimege (2006) points out that the South Sotho name of morabaraba is the name most used for this game by South Africans. Zaslavsky (1999) uses the term 'mill' in referring to the game.

Our purpose is to show that the indigenous game of morabaraba has the potential of being used with success in the teaching and learning of mathematics. The use of indigenous games in general in mathematics classrooms provides the learners with an opportunity to relate their experiences outside the classroom to mathematical concepts and processes encountered in their mathematics classrooms. This, to a greater extent, creates familiarity between mathematics and indigenous games and in the process helps learners to overcome their fear of mathematics. The use of indigenous games in the classroom also creates a relationship between culturally specific activities and classroom activities (Laridon, Mosimege & Mogari, 2005:147).

On 24 February 2001 the Minister of Sports and Recreation launched the indigenous games of South Africa at the Basotho Cultural Village in the northern part of the Free State province. This was a culmination of one of the phases of the project by the South African Sports Commission (SASC) to revive indigenous games in South Africa. In this phase the project by the SASC had identified 23 indigenous games in the different regions of South Africa. These games are linked to "traditions of a cultural group, being of a local origin and requiring physical skill, strategy and/or chance" (SASC, 2001:3). The launch focused on seven games which were found to be generic in most regions of the country. These are dibeke, kho-kho, kgati, diketo, jukskei, moruba, and morabaraba. The SASC notes that these games were "grossly neglected in historical and anthropological accounts of indigenous peoples in South Africa" (SASC, 2001:3). The launch and focus of indigenous games has resulted in an annual celebration of indigenous games in the different provinces of South Africa.

The study and analysis of indigenous games has shown that they are a component of indigenous knowledge systems. Both indigenous games and indigenous knowledge systems deal with knowledge of local origin which is known largely by specific cultural groups. However, this knowledge is not strictly confined to the specific group, as evidenced by different cultural groups' knowledge of the morabaraba game. The knowledge of other cultural groups may be attributed to interrelations between cultures and studies on a variety of cultures and cultural activities which have been published. However, the fact that other cultural groups have knowledge of the game does not make the game less indigenous and less contextual.

Qualitative research was used in this study. This was considered appropriate since the researchers wished to obtain an in-depth understanding of how and what learners thought about the game of morabaraba as they played the game (De Vos & Fouche, 1998; Trochim 2001). In this regard, participant observation and teaching experiments were used. Learners were video recorded while playing the game. Their discussions were transcribed verbatim.

In classroom application, participant observation may mean joining the learners in the activities that they have been assigned to undertake and noting all pertinent aspects thereof. It may also mean creating an atmosphere for an in-depth investigation of a particular area or problem of concern by arranging the classroom activities. This depends on the circumstances of the work and the problem being researched. This is the participant observation approach used in this study. The game of morabaraba that was introduced was not part of the regular classroom activities that the learners were exposed to, and this resulted in the introduction of the game in the classroom and an intense observation of the learners' behaviours when they engaged in the game. The participant observation approach therefore took the form of a teaching experiment which is explained below.

A mathematical analysis (applying mathematical concepts, principles and processes) of any game reveals the extent to which mathematical concepts are embedded in the game. The following mathematical concepts are found in the analysis of morabaraba:

Despite the repeated request by the researcher that the learners should speak a bit louder and the agreement by both learners (one of them agreeing verbally and the other through nodding the head) the learners still continued to speak so softly that the researcher could not hear exactly what they said. This instance and many similar instances seem to indicate that morabaraba is a game which is not characterised by speaking loudly but is characterised by either quietness or some thinking as it relates to the tokens and the related movements. This is different from the indigenous game of moruba in which most of the activities are verbalised.

Within a period of 10 minutes the learners had played an average number of three games. This was dependent on whether learners who were playing together both understood the rules of the game. If both learners did not know the game they would spend a few minutes referring to the rules at the back of the morabaraba board. In instances where one of the learners knew the rules, this learner would explain the rules to the other learners. If one or both learners did not know how to play the game, they generally played only two games at the most. This shows that a lack of knowledge of the game caused the game to take longer than when the rules were known. If one of the learners knew the rules a Learning and Sharing Opportunity (LSO) was presented on the part of the knowledgeable learner. However, it also presented a difficulty in which the learner who did not know the game was to a greater extent dependent on the knowledgeable learner for some of the decisions, which in turn favoured the knowledgeable learner as he/she could exploit this situation to his/her advantage.

The morabaraba board is made up of three squares, with lines joining the corners of the squares and the middle of each square. These lines, including the lines forming the squares, indicate where the tokens can be moved after placement. Each square has 8 junctions at which tokens may be placed, numbered as follows:

As learners engage in a variety of games on morabaraba, they use a number of terms in the game. Here is an opportunity that educators can use to correct, introduce and highlight some of the mathematical concepts (such as geometric shapes, ratio and proportion, symmetry, logical reasoning and counting) that are part of the game being used. Learners should be encouraged to use the language of mathematics while playing the game so that the understanding of concepts can be noted.

In the South African context, the National Curriculum Statement encourages the incorporation of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems in the learning of mathematics. Using indigenous games such as morabaraba in this way is therefore important for putting government policy into practice. 006ab0faaa