A utilização de conceitos matemáticos no cotidiano dos profissionais agente de combate a endemias no município de Mamanguape - PB

Abstract

This study analyzed the manifestation of reasoning and mathematical concepts in the professional daily life of the Endemic Disease Control Agents in the municipality of Mamanguape - PB, having as a guideline question to understand how Mathematics is present in the work practices of these professionals and what implications this presence has for the teaching of Mathematics in High School. The study was based on Mathematics Education in a contextualized perspective, articulated with the valorization of everyday knowledge and the relationship between school and social reality, considering Mathematics as knowledge present in social and professional practices. The research was characterized as qualitative, exploratory in nature, being carried out in the context of the field activities of the Agents to Combat Endemic, with the participation of professionals working in the health surveillance of the municipality. Data were collected through observation of the activities developed in the territory, records of practices related to LIRAa, the use of ovitraps, vector control and larvicide application, as well as descriptive notes on the planning of home visits, organization of routes and analysis of epidemiological indices. The data analysis was developed in an interpretative way, seeking to identify situations in which mathematical concepts were mobilized in professional actions, such as counting properties, estimations, proportionality, calculating dosages, interpreting tables, reading graphs, spatial organization of the territory and analysis of infestation percentages. The results showed that the agents used, in a continuous and functional way, various mathematical knowledge in the planning and execution of their activities, although they often do not explicitly recognize these actions as mathematical practices. It was observed that Mathematics manifested itself in a concrete way in the organization of work, in decisionmaking in the field, in the analysis of epidemiological data and in the definition of strategies to control endemics, demonstrating a strong relationship between mathematical knowledge and social reality. It was also found that the professional practices of the agents presented a significant approximation with the mathematical contents worked in High School, especially in the fields of Numbers, Quantities and Measures and Statistics, which reinforced the pedagogical potential of the daily life of these professionals for the contextualization of teaching. It was concluded that the work of the Agents to Combat Endemic Diseases constitutes a legitimate space for the mobilization of mathematical knowledge and that the valorization of these practices can contribute to a more meaningful, contextualized and socially relevant Mathematics Education, by bringing school knowledge closer to the concrete experiences lived in the Community.