TEACHING MATHEMATICS IN EVERYDAY LIFE: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

This research aims to analyze how mathematical practice is present in all socio-cultural groups that develop and use calculation skills. It also addresses the fact that the teaching of mathematics develops a broad capacity to meet the daily needs of social issues that are integrated into the labor market, aiming to understand how the teaching of mathematics rescues the scientific position on the daily use of calculations by people who carry out work activities on the streets. Regarding the methods used, the research sample was 100% in the semi-structured interviews and 50% in the focus group. In this study, it was  observed that 90% of the students at Colégio Estadual Visconde de Mauá, in elementary school II, year 9, aged between 15 and 18, in the period from 2014 to 2015 reported using mathematics in their work as fair workers, which is corroborated by 77.8% of the teachers. For the majority of teachers and students, the view of math teaching is traditional. An average of 58.33% of mathematical calculations were correct, although the teaching of mathematics is not scientific. The findings of this study show that the teaching of mathematics in the daily use of students who work on the streets uses calculations as a highly scientific and important method for the development of their work. The research focused mainly on teaching mathematics in a clear and objective way. Informal work is characterized by its nature, such as that carried out by street vendors and hawkers around the community of Bairro São Cristovão located in Salvador in the state of Bahia, where the school under study is located. This research aims to understand the importance and application of this mathematical knowledge, taking into account the social group studied.