Participation in Social Communities and Pedagogical Practice with Mathematical Modelling: some relations

Abstract

From the perspective of Social Learning Systems, SLS, the learning process is understood as participation in social communities. In light of this theoretical approach, in this article we discuss the role of participation in different social communities in the learning process on the pedagogical practice with Mathematical Modelling of prospective Mathematics teachers. For this purpose, we explored the concept of learning within the SLS, focusing on key aspects for this research, such as the concepts of social community and community of practice. From this discussion, we articulated these theoretical assumptions to learning about pedagogical practice with Mathematical Modelling using descriptions and analysis of classroom episodes and interviews developed with fourth-year students of Mathematics Degree at a public university in Paraná in 2015. The descriptions are presented in order to relate the participation of two undergraduate students in social communities to their pedagogical learning practice with Mathematical Modelling. The reflections resulting from this research indicate the relevance of the participation of prospective Mathematics teachers in social communities, which practices bring school communities and those constituted within the Graduation courses the decision to incorporate the Mathematical Modelling into their pedagogical practices.

Keywords:
Social Learning Systems; Learning for teaching; Constellation of Practices; Pedagogical Practice with Modelling; Initial training