From Knowledge to Instruction: Examining the Roles of Usefulness and Teaching Self-Efficacy on Postgraduate Students’ Willingness to Teach Ethnomathematics

Ebenezer Kwesi Lotey; Ebenezer  Bonyah

doi:10.7160/eriesj.2026.190306

Authors

Ebenezer Kwesi Lotey Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development
Ebenezer Bonyah Department of Mathematics Education, Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development, Kumasi-Ghana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7160/eriesj.2026.190306

Keywords:

Ghanaian PhD students, ethnomathematics, SEM, pedagogical content knowledge, ethnomathematics usefulness

Abstract

Teacher education programmes invest in ethnomathematics knowledge, but its value depends on whether it is translated into instructional practice. This study examined whether ethnomathematics usefulness (EU) and teaching self-efficacy (ETSE) mediated relationships of ethnomathematics content knowledge (ECK) and pedagogical knowledge (EPK) with willingness to teach ethnomathematics (WTE) among Ghanaian postgraduate students. Guided by a pragmatic paradigm, data were collected from 159 participants through an online questionnaire and telephone interviews with eight purposively selected participants. Quantitative data were analysed using covariance-based structural equation modelling in AMOS 31 and qualitative data through reflexive thematic analysis. ECK and EPK were positively associated with EU and ETSE. WTE was positively predicted by EPK, EU, and ETSE, while ECK showed a small negative direct association but a positive total effect. EU and ETSE showed significant indirect effects in both the ECK–WTE and EPK–WTE relationships. Interviewees expressed strong willingness to use cultural artefacts in teaching while identifying curricular and assessment constraints. The findings suggest that ethnomathematics knowledge is more likely to translate into teaching willingness when accompanied by perceived usefulness and confidence, while institutional conditions may influence the feasibility of culturally inclusive mathematics teaching.

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