Meanings in Math Classes and in Other Practices: Discussions From the Language Turn

Abstract

This article presents research results that aimed to analyze the way in which students deal with math in different social practices, inside or outside school. The debate will be conducted by a discussion on meaning and learning. One way of perceiving whether meanings learnt in school are recognized in different practices would be matched by observing students in non-school contexts. The research tried to follow this guideline by selecting a data corpus that was collected using participant observation methods with a group of elementary school students. Theoretical framework is based on situated learning developed by Jean Lave, in which social aspects and contexts are considered, contrasting psychological approaches that are dominant in Education field. To the question of situated learning were added philosophical discussions related to Wittgenstein’s meaning of use within language practices. The data showed that the framework is relevant and situation has an influence on the way one can practice mathematics. In this sense, the research does not confirm learning as a possession, related to knowledge transfer in which meaning could move from a situation to another. Thus, this approach favors the understanding situated learning as an important aspect of the concept of learning.