The communication established in the Mathematics class during a landscape for investigation

Abstract

A landscape of investigation centered in real financial situations has the potential to prepare students to make decisions concerning their future ant opens up opportunities to establish new patterns of communication inside the classroom. Thus, in this article we share the results of a research oriented at understanding the communicative actions established when a teacher invites her students to get involved in a landscape of investigation with a focus on Financial Education. Adopting a qualitative approach, the research can be described as practitioner research in which one teacher investigates her classroom practice. The data collected were audio and video recordings of all the lessons related to the landscape of investigations, the student’s written productions, and the teacher’s field diary. The episodes were selected prioritizing those in which the students and the teacher negotiated mathematical notions and procedures. Such episodes were analyzed by identifying the presence of communicative acts. They suggest the establishment of investigative cooperation within the classroom. The results reveal transformations in communication during the landscape for investigation, highlighting the challenges faced by the teacher and the importance of giving voice to students to enable the negotiation of mathematical meanings and connect them with life beyond the classroom.