HISTÓRIA DOS ARITMÔMETROS ESCOLARES NO ENSINO PRIMÁRIO DA MATEMÁTICA NO BRASIL (1883 – 1927)

RESUMO Este artigo registra aspectos historicos da producao e difusao de materiais didaticos da educacao matematica, no contexto brasileiro das ultimas decadas do seculo XIX e inicio do seculo XX. Mais especificamente sao focalizados os entao denominados aritmometros, usados no quadro de valorizacao do metodo intuitivo, reunindo abacos e outros recursos para o ensino as operacoes elementares da aritmetica e do sistema metrico decimal. As fontes usadas foram relatorios ministeriais, bem como de diretores da instrucao publica do municipio da Corte, regimentos escolares; manuais pedagogicos e livros escolares. O referencial adotado envolve os conceitos de cultura e disciplina escolares, propostos por Andre Chervel. Foram tambem usados os conceitos de estrategias e taticas propostos por Michel de Certeau e de apropriacao, no sentido definido por Roger Chartier. A pesquisa permitiu constatar que entre os desafios da modernizacao do ensino da matematica estava o postulado de recorrer a procedimentos intuitivos e experimentais, reduzindo as praticas da memorizacao. Essa orientacao incluia o uso de diversos objetos para ensinar o sistema de numeracao, as operacoes e o sistema metrico. O estudo permitiu compreender que a fase inicial da expansao da educacao primaria coincide com maior valorizacao de aspectos praticos e uteis do ensino da matematica, originando um novo discurso em relacao as praticas tradicionais. HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL ARITHMOMETER IN THE PRIMARY TEACHING OF THE MATHEMATICS IN BRAZIL (1883 - 1927) ABSTRACT This article white the history of the production and dissemination of educational materials of mathematics education in the Brazilian, in the context of the last decades of the nineteenth century and begin of the twentieth century. Specifically targeted are the so called arithmometer, developed within the intuitive method of valuation, gathering abacuses and other resources for teaching the elementary operations of arithmetic and the metric system. The sources used were ministerial reports, as well as directors of public instruction of the county court, school bylaws; teaching manuals and textbooks. The reference includes the concepts of school culture and discipline, proposed by Andre Chervel. Have also used the concepts of strategies and tactics proposed by Michel de Certeau and ownership, in the sense defined by Roger Chartier. The research allowed to observe that among the challenges of the modernize the teaching of mathematics was the postulate of use intuitive and experimental procedures, reducing the hitherto prevailing practices of memorization. This guidance included the use of material objects to teach the numbering, the operations and the metric system. The study allows us to understand that the initial phase of the expansion of primary education coincides with a time of appreciation of practical and useful aspects of mathematics teaching, creating a new discourse in relation to traditional practices.