MATH MAKER AND FINANCIAL EDUCATION: A PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MATHEMATICAL THINKING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Abstract

Financial Education has become an increasingly relevant theme in the contemporary educational context, especially considering the need to develop individuals capable of making conscious decisions related to consumption, planning, and the responsible use of financial resources. Within the field of Mathematics Education, this theme enables the articulation between mathematical concepts and situations present in students' daily lives, contributing to the development of mathematical literacy. However, it is observed that the teaching of these contents still occurs, in many cases, in an abstract and decontextualized manner, limiting students’ understanding of their practical application. In this context, the maker culture has been identified as a promising pedagogical approach, as it values learning processes based on experimentation, artifact creation, and problem-solving. Thus, this article aims to discuss theoretical foundations for the integration between Maker Mathematics and Financial Education in Elementary Education, analyzing how pedagogical practices based on construction and experimentation can support the learning of mathematical concepts related to money management and financial decision-making. This study is characterized as a bibliographic research, grounded in studies on school financial education, maker culture, and mathematics education. The results indicate that the articulation between Maker Mathematics and Financial Education can contribute to the construction of more meaningful learning experiences, fostering the development of applied mathematical thinking and expanding pedagogical possibilities for mathematics teaching in the early years of basic education.