TEACHER TRAINING, SOCIOCULTURAL MEDIATION, AND PROBLEM-SOLVING PEDAGOGY: INTERPRETATIONS BASED ON DISTRACTORS IN MATHEMATICS ITEMS

Abstract

This article discusses the training of teachers who teach Mathematics in the early years of schooling, focusing on the pedagogical potential of distractors found in items from external assessments. The analysis draws on the chapter “Teacher education and problem-solving pedagogy: what we know and observe in the distractors of an item,” by Renato Duarte Gomes and Maria Marly de Oliveira, articulating it with the ideas of Lev Vygotsky and Paulo Freire. In light of contemporary Brazilian research on teacher education, assessment, and Mathematics Education, it is argued that distractors, when interpreted from a historical-cultural and Freirean perspective, function as indicators of students’ modes of thinking and guide more contextualized pedagogical interventions. Such understanding reinforces the investigative role of teachers, expands the pedagogical use of assessment, and strengthens collaborative practices in continuing teacher education.