OBMEP IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: A CONTENT ANALYSIS IN THE PERIOD FROM 2005 TO 2017

Abstract

In this article we aim to investigate the interrelationships between the questions of the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad of the Public Schools (OBMEP) in the period from 2005 to 2017 with the Learning Environments proposed by Skovsmose (2000). We conduct a qualitative research in the documentary modality. The corpus of the research was constituted by the 260 questions of the OBMEP for Level II (8th and 9th grades) in the period from 2005 to 2017. The data were analyzed through the procedures of Content Analysis from the perspective of Bardin (1977). In our analysis, we seek to map, classify and analyze each of the 260 issues of OBMEP in the light of the theoretical contributions of the learning environments and the critical mathematical education. The results of the research indicated that there is a predominance of OBMEP issues in relation to Environments 1 and 3 – Paradigm of Exercise with reference to Pure Mathematics and semi reality Paradigm of Exercise with reference to Pure Mathematics and semi reality. We conclude that mathematics teachers in service should not develop their pedagogical practices in the classroom simply in Environments 1 and 3 related to the exercise paradigm, as found in the analysis of the issues of OBMEP in the period from 2005 to 2017, but rather move between different Learning Environments.