Primary School Teacher’s Professional Learning: Exploring Different Meanings of the Equals Signal

Context: The use of professional learning tasks in practicing teacher education programmer has become a useful way to mobilize and construct knowledge to teach mathematics. Objective: The paper has the aim to identify as professional learning tasks based on classroom practice contribute to the mobilization and expansion of the algebraic thinking of primary school teachers, regarding to the different meanings of the equal sign. Design: This research is part of a qualitative methodology and a theoretical interpretive perspective. Settings and Participants: The research had been realized in a formative process composed of 14 meetings held in a municipal public school in Sao Paulo, with the participation of 6 teachers from the early years. Data collection and Analysis: Data were collected by documents and observation with video and audio recording, and analyses were done under a deductive approach. Results: Reflections and discussions that occurred during the meetings allowed us to identify traces of signification and construction of the teachers’ algebraic thinking. Conclusion:  The study made it possible to identify resignification by the teachers of the sign of equality, going from operational to equivalence and relational.