Abstract
The present article aims to analyze the historical discontinuities of a statement that has been constituted as one of the “almost unquestionable” truths: Mathematical Modeling makes the teaching and learning of Mathematics more meaningful. For this, I make use of theoretical-methodological contributions linked to the theories of the philosopher Michel Foucault. The analytical material covers theses and dissertations defended from 1987 to 2021. The analysis of the material gives visibility to the reality of the students as central to the discussion around a meaningful teaching and learning process. However, there is a discursive discontinuity in the “centrality” of reality. Until the 1990s, reality was used for motivation and meaningful learning of mathematical content. After 1990, reality aims to form critical and reflective subjects.
Keywords:
Mathematical Modeling; Meaningful; Statement; Speech; Reality