Problematizing school mathematics: how does it contribute to teacher professional development?

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the problematization of school mathematics contributes to teacher professional development. Problematization is understood both as a reflection process that produces confrontations, resignifications, and a change in the way they relate to school mathematical knowledge; and, specifically, as a method to promote teacher empowerment. Two episodes are analyzed based on the reflective model of school mathematics, resulting in evidence of the generation of arguments for the transformation of teacher practice, which were generated by the re-signification of knowledge and the recognition of the transversal nature of knowledge. This fact allows teachers to build proposals to innovate, adjust, or modify elements of their teaching and practice, that is, it develops autonomy in both mathematical knowledge and practice, which is a fundamental characteristic of teacher professional development.

School mathematics problematization; Teacher professional development; Reflection; Teacher Empowerment; Socioepistemolgy