O soroban na formação de conceitos matemáticos por pessoas com deficiência intelectual: implicações na aprendizagem e no desenvolvimento

Abstract

This thesis discusses the use of the soroban - Japanese abacus - as an instrument for performing mathematical calculations by people with intellectual disabilities. The research theme emerged from the necessity to maximize access to mathematical knowledge for such students, seeking to overcome existing gaps in the teaching and learning process. Thus, the soroban was inserted as an instrument of calculation in the curricular pedagogical proposal of Mathematics, given it is an instrument that requires thought for its operationalization. The research aimed to verify the contributions of the soroban to the learning of the content Numbers and Operations and the development of higher psychological functions in students with intellectual disabilities. The study, of applied nature and qualitative approach, used the research as a strategy to collect and analyze data. The research was carried out in a basic education class composed by young adults and adults in the special education modality in the interior of the state of Paraná - Brazil, with eight students with intellectual disability. A mathematical teaching proposal was developed, inserting the soroban as a calculation tool, for the appropriation of the contents of the curriculum proposal of Mathematics to students with intellectual disabilities. The research was based on Lev Semenovich Vygotski’s historical-cultural theory on the learning and development of the higher psychological functions and on the theoretical presuppositions of the formation of the mental action in stages proposed by Piotr Yakovlevich Galperin. The results indicated that students with intellectual disabilities who participated in the study had limited knowledge regarding the use of numbers and operations in school situations and in the social use of this content and that, after the pedagogical intervention, they presented advances in this knowledge, appropriating the concept of number and operations through the soroban. These results highlighted the importance of the use of different resources for the teaching of Mathematics for students with this disability, when it comes to learning and their development. Given the results obtained, a training on soroban was carried out for teachers who worked in classes with students with intellectual disabilities in two schools of basic education in the special education modality of the municipality. They made use of the knowledge acquired in the training for the teaching of Mathematics in their classrooms, inserting the soroban as an instrument of calculation in their classes. It was found relevant to promote continued education for teachers, providing them with moments of reflection on their pedagogical practice, access to new knowledge and sharing their experiences, in order to contribute to qualitative improvements in their teaching practice, offering a better teaching quality to their students.