Philosophy of Mathematics Education: A Panorama from Brazil

Abstract

This chapter presents a panorama of the research on philosophy of mathematics education in Brazil, based on the studies presented and discussed in Working Group 11 (WG11), Philosophy of Mathematics Education of the Brazilian Society of Mathematics Education, during the VI International Seminar of Research on Mathematics Education (SIPEM VI) in 2015. It reports upon the hermeneutic analysis of each of the studies that was carried out, framed by the questions ‘What are the article’s purposes/objectives/questions/problems/interrogations?’, ‘What were the investigation procedures?’, ‘Who are the authors of the reference works cited?’, and ‘What does the article say, considering its proposal?’ The analysis indicated a broad range of themes and problematizations were addressed in the papers, including reflections about mathematical objects, the conceptions of mathematics, the relationships between mathematics and the school environment, the scholarization of mathematics, the preparation of the mathematics teacher, the different cultural mediators in mathematics teaching, with special emphasis on computational environments and ICTs, and ethnomathematics. It also brought to light a uniqueness concerning the philosophy of mathematics education as it has been investigated across the world. This uniqueness manifests itself through the view about knowledge and reality presented from the Brazilian point of view, while informed by authors like Deleuze, Gadamer, Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, and Wittgenstein who shape the world view of this area.