Teachers in action: (re)signifying teaching through Mathematical Modelling

Abstract

This paper aims to present results of a research in which we evidence how teachers in continuing education (re)signify the way they teach based on the implementation of a mathematical modelling activity. Subsidized in the characterizations of mathematical modelling as content and as a vehicle, we focused on the practices developed by a group of ten teachers who teach Mathematics and who, in 2019, were taking a course in Mathematical Modelling in the context of a Professional Master’s Degree in Mathematics Teaching. The analysis of responses to a questionnaire and reports written by teachers describing the practice developed was inspired by the Grounded Theory. The analysis resulted in two categories that revealed the way teachers teach through mathematical modelling, leading to a (re)signification of their teaching practices: teaching practice different from the usual ones, which implied in the teacher’s role of guiding students through the activity development; and practice that strive for the engagement of students, in terms of the possibilities offered by the mathematical approach to extra-mathematical situations.

Keywords:
Mathematics Education; Teacher’s Continuing Education; Educational Practice; Classroom; Grounded Theory