Mathematical Education and Literature: possibilities for reframing

Abstract

The article presents results of an investigation centered on examining possible reframings that literary reading operates in the meanings that students attribute to school mathematics. Theoretical contributions are anchored in contemporary discussions about language and the notion of experience as proposed by Jorge Larrosa. The material examined is composed of statements by students from two classes in the final stage of elementary school, produced in two moments: the first involved a reflection in the classroom about school mathematics. The second moment consisted of reading excerpts from the work Alice in the Mirror, by Lewis Carroll (2004), in order to generate dialogues and new productions of meanings about mathematics and society. The analysis showed that mathematics is taken as a set of knowledge present “everywhere”, being conceived as static, unique, and universal. At the same time, it was positioned as indispensable for solving everyday situations and enabling immersion in the job market. Thus, it appears that the ways in which students conceive school mathematics are changing, mixing Platonic and utilitarian views. Another result of the study concerns the questioning movements of the logic present both in school mathematics and in life in a broader sense mobilized by literary reading.