O conhecimento de professores da educação básica sobre a discalculia

Abstract

Dyscalculia is a disorder that occurs in school-age children and affects their ability to understand and manipulate numbers. Children with this disorder are unable to set up operations, understand measurement principles, identify mathematical signs, classify numbers, follow sequences, understand mathematical concepts, relate the value of coins among other limitations. It is possible to detect dyscalculia at an early age, and measures can be taken to help students cope with math problems. The objective of this work is to investigate how Basic Education teachers understand dyscalculia and act in the face of manifest difficulties in Mathematics and diagnosed cases of dyscalculia. To carry out the research, a questionnaire was distributed to teachers of Mathematics and Pedagogy from the public network of Basic Education in Caçapava do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. Using the content analysis methodology, based on the data obtained in the responses of nine teachers, three categories were developed: i) Teachers' knowledge of dyscalculia; ii) The work of teachers with possible dyscalculic students; iii) The support structure for teachers in the case of dyscalculia diagnosis. The results indicate that the teachers surveyed are not properly aware of the causes of dyscalculia and have difficulties in perceiving signs of this disorder in students with learning difficulties in Mathematics. Most schools, for their part, do not adopt standardized processes for diagnosing dyscalculia.