Educação matemática e multiculturalismo : uma análise de imagens presentes em livros didáticos

Abstract

In this investigation we tried to discuss about Multiculturalism in a critical perspective and its implication for Mathematics Education, having as a focus the images present in two the didactic book collections entitled “Matemática – Mathematics” used in the public schools in Sinop/MT. We did a research of a qualitative approach and an interpretative nature. The question that guided us in this investigation was investigate the concepts of multiculturalism conveyed by images of two the didactic book collections, trying to relate these concepts to the development of a critical mathematics. During the research, due to the meaningful existence of illustrations with wheelchair users, the subject about the wheelchair users became also a question to be studied. With the intention of answering the guiding question we had as a theoretical reference some studies related to the themes involved in the research specially texts by Ole Skovsmose, Peter McLaren and Tomaz Tadeu da Silva. The results of the research were based on a questionnaire applied to two illustrators of the collections, description of the organizational structure of them and the analysis of images about genders, the ethnicracial subjects and the wheelchair users. This analysis happened through the classification of the images in four different groups, namely: group of the images that value the practice of consumption, group of the politically correct images, group of the “prejudiced” images and the images group of appreciation of the cultural heritage, that showed our particular way to “look” the images. This procedure made the identification of the multiculturalism conception possible, from which the images get closer, therefore we took possession of Peter McLaren’s conception of multiculturalism that show us four distinct conceptions: conservative multiculturalism or entrepreneurial, liberalhumanist multiculturalism, left-wing liberal multiculturalism and critical multiculturalism and of resistance. It is worth to highlight that in this investigation we defend the conception of critical multiculturalism that better answers the expectations of a critical math education. However, in our point of view, the images analysed tend to have a liberal-humanist multiculturalism, making transparent a speech of equality among white and black people, women, men and wheelchair users, reinforcing the argument that there is a natural equality between people, leading the reader to an indolent situation, strengthening the hegemonic relations; such images, for us, do not favor an effective discussion about the question of difference, this way the speeches that can be spread or ignored by these images do worry us.