Abstract
The teaching and learning of mathematics face many challenges, especially for students and teachers who experience unfavorable sociocultural contexts. The Brazilian Public Schools Mathematics Olympiad (OBMEP) has awarded mathematics students who stand out for their results. However, theoretical perspectives, such as Vygotskyan, argue that learning mathematics is a complex process that is not limited to responses to stimuli from the social context or specific actions such as OBMEP. This article presents aspects from concluded doctoral research study that analyzed the foregrounds of medalist students in the municipality of Cocal dos Alves, Piauí state, in order to identify the reason(s) that led them to want to learn mathematics. The research type was exploratory and qualitative, with emphasis on the analysis of the case of students in the municipality. Since the production of data took place in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 18 participants were interviewed through the WhatsApp application, using a semi-structured script. To interpret the data produced, content analysis was used, more specifically, thematic analysis. The reflections suggested that some important elements are the adversities, social and economic obstacles that seem to be faced by the participants. In addition, those elements seem to influence the reasons that arouse their desire to learn mathematics, as they envision, through this learning, improving personal and family social and economic conditions.
Keywords:
Will; Motive; Foreground; Mathematics learning; OBMEP