Collectivity in a training activity with teachers who teach mathematics in the early years

Abstract

The content of this article is based on doctoral researches conducted and/or supervised by the authors and aims to discuss the relevance of collectivity in the continuous training processes developed with teachers who teach mathematics in the early years of elementary education. The first research was developed in a school setting, and the second was linked to actions of the Education Observatory at a public university. Historical-Cultural and Activity theory make up the theoretical framework adopted in the research and support the defense of the arguments under discussion as the result of formative movements with teachers in pedagogical activity. In the methodological approach, some results were selected which, having mathematical knowledge and the planning of teaching actions as essential elements, highlight collective work as constitutive and constituted in formative movements structured as activity. Fundamentals of Teaching- Orienteering Activity (TOA) guide situations that trigger learning, mediating the appropriation of concepts with a view to overcoming conflicts generated in the teaching organization processes. The conclusions indicate that collaboration in the actions leads to significant engagement by the participants in the training process, in which each individual recognizes themselves as a co-participant and co-former. This situation shows that the potential of training processes lies in the quality of the mediating instruments that are appropriate to the needs posed by the objective reality. These instruments enable teachers to be active, to produce experiences, reflections and analyses of their professional activity, in a movement of signification of their own practices.