Professional development of mathematics teachers from Paraguay in relation to ministerial didactic perspectives

Abstract

We explore professional development actions aimed at getting closer middle-level math teachers from the Ñeembucú region, Paraguay, to didactic perspectives established by the Ministry of Education and Sciences. To do this, we begin analyzing the textbooks, for teachers and students, which the State provides free of charge and whose scope is national. This analysis revealed disparities within the texts in terms of the declared theoretical position (Problem Solving) that is not consistent with the proposed activities (traditional), among other elements. From there on, we work with a group of teachers from the region to strengthen their specialized knowledge, particularly the didactic one. We applied a survey to them that allowed us to know the starting point in which to anchor a professional development device that was implemented virtualy. In this article we present the most relevant milestones of the investigation. As a result, we share the process that led to teachers acquiring Math Education tools that enabled them, firstly, to notice inconsistencies. From there, we delineate steps to strengthen the planning task of teaching proposals that distance themselves from the traditional model, approaching Problem Solving.