Ethnomathematics in textbooks used by Ecuadorian students aged 11-14

Ethnomathematics has increasingly been recognized as a means of connecting mathematics education with learners’ cultural knowledge and lived experiences, particularly in culturally diverse contexts. Although Ecuador’s national curriculum explicitly promotes interculturality, limited evidence exists regarding how these principles are represented in the mathematics textbooks that mediate classroom practice. Addressing this gap, this study examined the extent to which ethnomathematical elements are incorporated into Upper General Basic Education (EGB) mathematics textbooks in Ecuador and evaluated the alignment between curricular intentions and textbook content. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the study analyzed 2,167 mathematical activities, 18 projects, and 383 interdisciplinary sections across EGB Superior textbooks for students aged 11–14 years. Mathematical tasks were classified into 18 analytical categories to identify the presence of ethnomathematical content and cultural references. The findings reveal a substantial discrepancy between curriculum policy and textbook implementation: 98.11% of activities contained no ethnomathematical elements, while only 1.89% incorporated culturally situated mathematical knowledge. Although projects demonstrated greater inclusion of ethnomathematical content (33.33%) than routine exercises, such integration remained limited overall. These results suggest that intercultural principles embedded within the national curriculum have not yet been systematically translated into instructional materials. The study highlights the need for curriculum-aligned textbook revision, stronger teacher preparation, and the deliberate integration of local cultural practices and ancestral knowledge into mathematics education. It contributes empirical evidence to ongoing discussions concerning culturally responsive mathematics curricula and the role of textbooks in promoting equitable and inclusive mathematics learning.