Instructional Needs of Mathematics Teachers in the 5th Grade of Primary Education

Abstract

Teacher-pedagogists come face to face with what they usually deem to be an increase in the complexity of mathematical knowledge, particularly in 5^th grade, the last year of the first cycle in Brazil’s primary education system. Exploring, in the classroom, fractions and decimals, geometrical and statistical concepts, among other subjects of knowledge found in the country’s base curriculum (BNCC), can often pose a major challenge for 5^th grade teachers. Adding to this context is the reigning belief, in school environments, that mathematics is not for everyone. This interferes directly in a teacher’s predisposition to wanting to learn and teach mathematics through innovative practices. This paper outlines the first stage of a research study called Instructional Needs for Mathematics Teachers in the 5^th Grade of Primary Education: a study in Cuiabá’s municipal schools, conducted by the Provost’s Office for Research at the Federal University of Mato Grosso, which focused on the needs that teachers display. The issue, in this outline of the study, refers to one of the questions in the initial survey which allowed us to identify part of the instructional needs of teachers and to establish the dynamics of the instructional actions that these teachers were offered during the second semester of 2022. As answers to this question, it was found that teacher-pedagogists in the municipal schools of Cuiabá who teach 5^th grade students need to become familiar with practices that make knowledge more meaningful to children, learn how students reason mathematical problems out, comprehend and study the BNCC more intently, and relate mathematical content to everyday situations.