**5. Findings**

#### **5.1 Gebeta is part of the cultural in the family, community, and society**

During the visit to the Ethiopian Cultural Sports Federation office, the officials claimed that there are 293 registered cultural games in the country. This excerpt from the document shows the office's mandate to organize and structure scientifically. Furthermore, the document reveals that only 11 of these games have been adopted as

national cultural sports games. Among these 11, the Gebeta game is included. This information is depicted in **Figure 3**, which includes a text excerpt from the guiding document about cultural sports in the country.

During the videotaped Gebeta game at the head office, two young players from the sub-city of Arada in Addis Ababa played against each other, officiated by a referee who has been working on cultural sports for 30 years. They were all dressed according to the cultural context of the game. The head of cultural sports opened the demonstration. He said, "Today, as promised, we have invited players from one of the sub-cities in Addis Ababa called Arada. They are here with a referee, who is also a game instructor. He leads a cultural sports project in the Arada area. He will take responsibility for officiating and explaining the rules and cultural interpretations of the game today. The two young people are here because they are among the best, and they are the ones who know all the four types of Gebeta game (see **Figure 4**)."

After that, the referee took over and introduced himself first. Then, he continued with a deeper explanation of the country's history and development of the cultural sport. In the Room was also another officer who has facilitated this meeting.

#### **Figure 3.**

*Extract from the cultural sports federation guiding document (Amharic text translated to English by one of the researchers).*

#### **Figure 4.**

*The referee, the two teenage players from the Arada sub-city of Addis Ababa, and the official game board of 84 cm x 20 cm with 12 holes/homes and two storing holes (homes).*

*Creating a Culturally Responsive Mathematics Education: The Case of Gebeta Game in Ethiopia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.114007*

*"I am …; I have contributed to a cultural sport for over 30 years. Whenever I mention cultural sports in Ethiopia, I always want to recognize the contribution of the late Mr. Tefera Mekonnen, who tremendously contributed to establishing this work in the country. He is the one who traveled throughout the country around 45 years ago, sitting on a horse and mule, and traveling on foot, collecting information about these games. I am always grateful that he showed me the way and recognized and entrusted me with this work to continue to the next generation; that is why I am working hard to realize that. I am training, teaching, as well as leading projects that involve young people. Today, two young teenagers from Arada are here to demonstrate the game."*

Furthermore, the referee stated, "the game usually starts with greetings and handshakes. However, due to coronavirus concerns, the players will now begin with an elbow bump greeting." Both the players and the referee have already donned cultural clothes. As the game commences, he also explains which versions of the game will be demonstrated, focusing on grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.

*"The 12-homes Gebeta game has four different types: 1-kinchibosh ( ), 2-kinchibosh, 3-kinchibosh, and 4-effisosh ( ). There are different versions Gebeta game but are only focused on those that are nationalized by establishing rules and regulations of the game scientifically. Of course, we could have worked harder to recognize and register these cultural sports at the Olympic level. Even we need people who work on it so that it is played using technology."*

Hence, first, 1-kinchibosh was demonstrated. Mr. Yaregal said, "First, we should decide who to start. We do it using a draw by flipping a coin. What do you prefer, Anbesa ( meaning lion) or Sew ( meaning man)?" Then, he flipped the coin, and the one dressed green got the chance to start the game. After he took his round, the second player chose a home (hole) to start and moved the stones further. We asked him why he chose to start there. He explained, and Mr. Belayneh interjected in between and provided the different strategies to win the game. After the first round, they continued demonstrating the other three game versions. The detail is not the focus of this article, and we return to it later on the mathematics, language, cultural representations, and interpretations involved in the game. In addition to this official data, other evidence collected to establish that Gebeta is among the CFoK was from the survey. The result of the small-scale survey is summarized in **Table 1**.

#### **5.2 Scaffolding 'Gondar's Gebeta' game**

Gebeta game has many versions. Even the 12 homes Gebeta game has four different ones, as mentioned above. The kind of Gebeta game that is the focus of this work is different from the official cultural sports, but the one that one of the researchers used to play before he started elementary school. It is played around Gondar, the northwestern part of the country; we call it Gondar's Gebeta game. It might also be known in other parts of the country; further, investigation is needed. The rationale for presenting this version of the game is the following: i) its simplicity to be understood and played, ii) its contribution to mathematical cognition, iii) it is known to us at an early age before school, and iv) its availability within our proximity and how we enjoyed it.


#### **Table 1.**

*Summary of the small-scale survey questions and responses about the Gebeta game in Ethiopia.*

#### **Figure 5.**

*The initial status of the two-player playing the Gebeta game and the first round play by player 1.*

Assume there are only two players (see **Figures 5**–**7**). At the start, each player has six equal holes called homes (in the local language, bet). Each hole contains four seeds, which count as one completed home. The players aim to own as many holes/ homes as possible. To achieve this, players must empty their holes and then rebuild them to contain four seeds again, thus completing a home. The game is played in multiple rounds until one player loses some or all of their initial homes. The first player

*Creating a Culturally Responsive Mathematics Education: The Case of Gebeta Game in Ethiopia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.114007*

**Figure 6.** *Two possible strategies by player 2.*

**Figure 7.** *Kids playing the Gebeta game on the ground in Gondar.*

begins at one of their homes, picks up all four seeds, moves around in an anticlockwise direction, and distributes one seed to each subsequent hole until all seeds have been distributed. The player then collects all the seeds from the last hole they placed seeds in. This process continues until the player reaches an empty hole, at which point they stop playing and pass the turn to the other player.

The second player follows the same procedure starting with a hole of their choice and picking up all the seeds in that hole. As the players continue to go around and around, if a hole becomes filled with four seeds again, the player who owns that hole immediately collects the four seeds and claims their first home. However, if a player accidentally adds another seed to a hole that already contains four seeds, they are unable to pick up the four seeds. On the other hand, if a player can put his last pebble on the hole/homes of the other side, which has three, then that player collects that home for him/herself. Actually, that is one of the ways a player can win more homes. Another strategy is to be able to attack the holes, which are on the way to four seeds (complete homes). The game can be completed if one of the players has more or even all homes. Hence, the game involves strategic thinking to gain more homes. The first round for each player is simulated as follows. Let us assume two players, players 1 and 2, are playing. Assume that player 1 starts and **Figure 5** provides the simulation of the player's steps starting from the initial step.

Player 2 starts his/her turn. The game demands the player to design strategies to optimize the win, that is. to acquire more homes. **Figure 6** provides two different strategies that Player 2 can follow, resulting in differing outcomes. In strategy 1, at the end of the first round, the player obtains one home, while the other player gets nothing. On the other hand, in strategy 2, Player 1 gains two homes, and Player 2 only gets one home. Which strategy is better in the long run? Was there another strategy that surpasses the aforementioned two? The answer to these questions depends on various variables. However, the Gebeta game undeniably requires critical and strategic thinking.

**Figure 7** showcases versions of the Gebeta game played by kids in Gondar. In the video, the kids surrounding the two players can be heard suggesting different strategies. Sometimes, competitive players may not allow external suggestions, while in other cases, they may tolerate them.
