Teaching geometry in the early school years (1965-1974) in Portugal: dialogue involving programs and materials for teacher formation

Abstract

This article intends to deepen knowledge about Mathematics teaching in the first years of schooling, by establishing a dialogue between the mandatory curricular proposals for the teaching of Geometry and the didactic indications transmitted to teachers through didactic manuals and guidelines for teaching. We analyzed, on the one hand, the Portuguese mandatory mathematics programs for primary education and for Telescola, looking for contents, guidelines and teaching materials relating to Geometry in these documents. On the other hand, we looked at the materials for the training of primary school teachers and the guidelines for teaching Mathematics at Telescola, in search of the didactic indications recommended there for the teaching of Geometry. The chosen period is part of a time when ideas for the renewal of mathematics teaching circulated internationally, the Modern Mathematics Movement, so we also looked for the influence of this movement in the analyzed materials. The study is based on a descriptive and interpretive documentary analysis, with a historical perspective. Sources used include the mandatory programs and the materials produced specifically for teachers, or for future teachers, containing didactic indications. In general, the materials produced specifically for teachers, or for future teachers, focus on the pedagogical component and follow the indications of the official curriculum documents in the proposed approach. Analysis showed a concern to adapt the teaching of geometry to the age group of the students favoring a simultaneously utilitarian, formative, intuitive, and active approach.

We will analyze, on the one hand, the mathematics programs for primary education and the mathematics programs that were in force for Telescola, looking for contents, guidelines and teaching materials relating to Geometry in these documents. On the other hand, we look at the materials for the training of primary school teachers and the guidelines for teaching Mathematics at Telescola, in search of the didactic indications recommended there for the teaching of Geometry. The chosen period corresponds to a time when ideas for the renovation of mathematics teaching were circulating internationally, included in a project that involved several countries, known as the Modern Mathematics Movement, so we will also look for evidence of the influence of this movement in the analyzed materials.

The sources used include the programs in force at the time, published in the Diário do Governo, and the materials produced specifically for teachers, or for future teachers, where the authors have to explain the didactic indications, constituting an important reference for understanding the pedagogical discourses of the era.