ࡱ> UWTq` 3bjbjqPqP .L::q* rrrXXX8DJ#2"""""""$|$h&"555"#5d"5":,'  0L\Xd ",#0J#R((' ' &(M P|<d""dJ#5555   FACING LEARNING DIFFICULTIES IN THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS IN THE STATE OF PARAN, BRAZIL: THE SUPPORT CLASSROOM PROGRAM Cllia Maria Ignatius Nogueira Regina Maria Pavanello State University of Maring (UEM), Maring PR Brazil The Brazilian educational community has constantly struggled for specific issues which, appropriated by cunning politicians, did not result in real victories. An analysis of these successive issues may reveal a more profound understanding of the real situation in Brazilian basic education. It is a known fact that in the context of educational issues reaching a target is only a stage forward which does not mean hitting the race final point. Within the issues defended during the last decades, we may pinpoint the Learning for all struggle which actually hit the target. In 1991 ninety-five percent of Brazilian children living in the towns and cities had a place in the government schools. When education for all is intended, it is evident that all comprises children whose requirements are not fulfilled merely by having a place guaranteed by school admission. The slogan was consequently furthered by Education for Diversity which comprised the fact that inclusion, in all its different aspects, became the center of educational discussions at the start of the 21st century. Actually the educational community is making constant claims on the government, at all levels, for policies that would improve the quality of education offered to the schooling age bracket population throughout the country. If official documents related to Brazilian educational policies, at state and municipal level, are consulted, the principle warranting public, free and for all education is found at the top, a fact foregrounded by the Constitution. Further, most documents state that they give priority for qualified school training at all learning levels and modalities coupled to attendance to cultural specificities and diversities among other items. Policies differential consists in the actions that were given priority for attendance to these principles. The Education Secretariat of the state of Paran, Brazil, presents on its official site a synthesis of its main activities based on the current educational policy which aims at giving a quality education to all developed through a host of different programs. The Support Classroom Program will be described and analyzed in current text since it is directly related to Mathematical Education. The authors, professors at the State University of Maring, Maring PR Brazil, could actually follow closely its establishment and development as supervisors of teachers who work in the Support Classroom Program, realizing research on such a teaching environment, giving courses to teachers and coordinators of the program and reading critically all the material produced by teachers. Research was undertaken in 2006 in municipalities comprised within the area of four Regional Nuclei of Education  of the state of Paran. Support Classroom Program Traditionally the first year of the Brazilian secondary school (Year 7) has been a point of strangulation in fundamental teaching. This is due to the fact that up to the last year of the primary school teaching is undertaken by polyvalent teachers, whereas in the first year of the secondary school teaching is done by several teachers each giving lessons on his/her particular discipline. Another reason is that not all students at the first year of the secondary school have the cognitive structures that would enable them to understand the intellectual contents involved. In fact, not all have yet acquired the abstraction mode required of them, with special reference to Mathematics According to the Education Secretariat of the state of Paran, the Support Classroom Program aims at establishing a pedagogical activity to face these issues. The Program, developed by the Secretariat in 2004, would be undertaken in supplementary classes of not more than twenty students in each class. Pedagogues and technical teams of the Education Regional Nuclei would supervise and follow up teachers involved in these classes. In 2005 some 9664 classes were involved in the Support Classroom Program. Teachers working on these classes, the Math teachers working with the first form of the secondary school and pedagogical teams of the Nuclei previously made a diagnosis of the difficulties which students had, according to a list distributed by the Educational Secretariat. Pedagogical work was thus planned from results given in the diagnosis. In the same year the Education Secretariat published the Students Book which comprised a series of activities to be undertaken in the classroom, and the Teachers Book with pedagogical orientations for the undertaking of the same activities. Both books were produced by teachers involved in the Program. Two meetings with teachers engaged in the Support Classroom Program were held in 2006. The first meeting dealt with an analysis and an exchange of experiences among the participating teachers. Rules for student assistance were established. Assistance should be given individually; it should not be characterized as a reinforcement of subject matter dealt with during the school period; the case study methodology should be adopted. Teachers from higher education institutions of the state of Paran participated at the second meeting and its main aim was to analyze the reports of the case studies. From the formal point of view, due measures were taken for the implementation of the program. However, since theory and practice are two different things, difficulties arose throughout the endeavor. The problems Although thoroughly planned all activities are liable to present difficulties that should be straightened as soon as they appear. However, in the case of the Support Classroom Program, measures could have been taken to avoid problems especially those related to the choice of the teacher who is actually the main factor of its success. Since assistance to the student should give priority to filling gaps in his/her knowledge of Mathematics, the teacher indicated for the Support Classroom Program would be particularly and profoundly acquainted with mathematical concepts and the didactic methodologies of the former school years. A theoretical and practical foregrounding on learning difficulties would at least be desired if not necessary. Most teachers who were responsible for the Support Classroom Program either did not have the pedagogical training required or they did not know anything on learning theories or on dealing with difficulties in Mathematical learning. Further, many teachers involved were either close to their retirement or temporarily-contracted without any effective links to the school. In both cases no motivation for the required studies inherent to their new attributions was extant. The constant coming and going of these teachers was evidently not an asset in the establishment of links required to their job and also implied in a re-starting of activities at each teacher substitution. Another problem that could have been easily avoided was the lack of clear rules by the Education Secretariat for the programs functioning coupled to faulty objective explanations on what was expected of teachers. In fact, each teacher established a type of particular modus operandi to which she/he committed her/himself which eventually made more difficult the changes that later on were required. One of the most serious problems that could have been avoided by the Secretariat was the inadequate bibliographical material which had been produced for use in the Support Classroom Program. Although it was made according to trends in Mathematical Education and proper to a common classroom, it failed in the specificity of its mission with children with difficulties in Math. Although the above-mentioned problem is actually beyond the competence of the Education Secretariat, it is related to the current lack of bibliographical material and of teachers specialized in pedagogical treatment of learning difficulties in Mathematics to advice and capacitate the programs teachers and coordinators. Although the complexity of the work that must be achieved as a result of liabilities in bibliography and specialized teachers has been established, the Education Secretariat has adopted a capacitation policy based on multiplication, with multipliers (coordinators) lacking the necessary training (similar to that experienced by teachers) to assimilate in the few hours allotted during capacitation courses ministered by higher institution teachers all the information that should be transmitted to their colleagues. We optimistically hope that common sense and the availability of teachers in seeking alternatives for success in their activities would lessen the above-mentioned problems and the necessary adjustments would gradually be made. However, another complicating aspect that may impair the Programs success and hinders the development of the teachers activities is the latters deeply grounded belief in childrens attended to by the program limitations. If such an issue was beyond the control of the Education Secretariat in the initial planning, conscious-raising activities on the students potentialities should have been constantly undertaken with the teachers involved and with the school community in general. Final considerations A government initiative to broaden the educational possibilities of Brazilian children is a great asset. However, proposing activities is not enough and the necessary conditions should be placed so that they may be effective. The intention of the Support Classroom Program is praise-worthy and its feasibility possible. Nevertheless, reformulations in the above mentioned aspects are needed for its success, especially with regard to the choice of teachers, their follow-up and the capacitation offered to them. The Education Secretariat is currently re-discussing issues for the re-organization of the program, even though at the moment no effective measures have been taken. If changes are not done quickly, the Program may not merely fail to achieve its aims but may be treated indifferently by teachers, parents and students. If positive results fail to be achieved as expected, the program may be switched off by other governments or by the present government later on. Unfortunately this is a characteristic of Brazilian education: a good program may be abandoned because of management problems. . References PARAN. Secretaria de Estado da Educao. Portal Dia a Dia Educao.  HYPERLINK "http://www.diaadiaeducacao.pr.gov.br/" www.diaadiaeducacao.pr.gov.br. UNIVERSIDADE DE SO PAULO. (1992). Revista do Instituto de Estudos Avanados (IEA), v.6, n. 14, Jan/Apr.  Review of IEA/USP, v.6, n14, Jan/Apr.1992.  www.diaadiaeducacao.pr.gov.br  Regional organs of the Education Secretariat of the state of Paran, Brazil.     |  3 9 ? 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