Análise de documentos curriculares de Matemática inspirada na ética discursiva de Jürgen HabermasAnalysis of Mathematics curriculum documents inspired by the discursive ethics of Jürgen Habermas

ResumoO presente artigo tem por objetivo apresentar uma proposta de análise do discurso presente em documentos curriculares, pautando-se na Ética Discursiva de Jürgen Habermas. Para tanto, apresentamos uma explanação sobre documentos curriculares, bem como discutimos o conceito de Ética Discursiva habermasiana e ilustramos a proposta com a análise de excertos da Base Nacional Comum Curricular para Formação de Professores (BNC-Formação).Palavras-chave: Teoria do Agir Comunicativo, Currículo de Matemática, Análise do Discurso.AbstractThis article aims to present a proposal for discourse analysis present in curricular documents, based on the Discursive Ethics of Jürgen Habermas. To this end, we present an explanation of curriculum documents, as well as discuss the concept of Habermasian Discursive Ethics and illustrate the proposal with the analysis of excerpts from the Common National Curriculum for Teacher Education (BNC-Formação).Keywords: Theory of Communicative Action, Curriculum of Mathematics, Discourse Analysis.ResumenEste artículo tiene como objetivo presentar una propuesta de análisis del discurso presente en documentos curriculares, basada en la Ética Discursiva de Jürgen Habermas. Para ello, presentamos una explicación de los documentos curriculares, además de discutir el concepto de Ética Discursiva Habermasiana e ilustrar la propuesta con el análisis de extractos del Currículo Nacional Común para la Formación Docente (BNC-Formação).Palabras clave: Teoría de la Acción Comunicativa; Curriculum de Matemáticas, Análisis del Discurso.

Understanding Meaningful Exchanges: Mathematics Discourse Analysis and Complexity Thinking

The focus in this paper is on the analysis of student-centered discourse through applying a discourse analysis tool that I developed to analyze data from an elementary mathematics classroom. The purpose of the analysis tool is to understand the impact of the complex learning system on the emerging classroom discourse. The minimum conditions for complexity created an invitational space for students that allowed interactions and meaningful exchanges to flourish through exploration of mathematical concepts and collective participation in classroom discourse. The analytic lens provides the teacher with a tool to understand more clearly the dynamics of meaningful exchanges identified as sharing, building, exploring and blocking. Keywords: Classroom discourse; mathematics education; complexity

Tools for Facilitating Meaningful Mathematics Discourse

This article explores facilitating meaningful mathematics discourse, one of the research-based practices described in Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All. Two tools that can support teachers in strengthening their classroom discourse are discussed in this, another installment in the series.

Improving Mathematics Discourse through Action Research

NCTM identified eight Mathematics Teaching Practices within its reform-oriented text, Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All (2014). These practices include research-informed, high-leverage processes that support the in-depth learning of mathematics by all students. Discourse within the mathematics classroom is a central element in these practices. The goal of implementing the practice facilitate meaningful discourse is to give students the opportunity to “share ideas and clarify understandings, construct convincing arguments regarding why and how things work, develop a language for expressing mathematical ideas, and learn to see things from other perspectives” (NCTM 2014, p. 29). To further support implementing meaningful discourse, mathematics educators must become adept at posing questions that require student explanation and reflection, hence, pose purposeful questions, which is another of the eight practices. Posing purposeful questions allows “teachers to discern what students know and adapt lessons to meet varied levels of understanding, help students make important mathematical connections, and support students in posing their own questions” (NCTM 2014, pp. 35-36).

Mathematics Discourse Communities

This case explores how a monolingual teacher, embedded in a large urban school context, saw and understood her role in supporting emergent bilingual learners’ development of mathematics discourse. Particular attention is paid to the classroom arrangements and curricular and instructional choices this teacher made to facilitate this development. The teacher maintains distinct language ideologies and perceptions of Latina/o learners that tacitly influence her design and implementation of mathematics discourse communities. Assuming that this phenomenon is widespread, this case raises questions about what educational leadership might do to shift the paradigm toward school culture where all school personnel understand the power of specialized discourses, the need to assume a collective responsibility to explicitly support learners’ language development, and their inextricable connection to Latina/os’ subject-area affinities and identities.