Abstract:

Concerns with mathematics teaching and learning cross the doors of the classrooms and even the school walls. Not that these concerns appear to be sequelae of an unfounded stubbornness, but because the deficit in education, also evidenced by the international and national assessments, may predict an economic and social future of accumulating differences, with the consequences this may bring to people`s welfare.

A systematization of the data from these evaluations and the reflections and recommendations that they have led to, as well as the systematization of studies relating to teacher thinking and action are the core of the first part of this work.
The second part reports on an undertaken empirical study, exploratory in nature, focusing on the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education mathematics teachers´ interpretation of the current Plan of Mathematics in their school and how they carry it on in the phases of planning and interaction in the classroom. Thus, we began by outlining a consistent conceptual framework and by examining the Plans of Mathematics of the schools involved, in order to know where they were inserted, the difficulties they were facing, the objectives and strategies designed to overcome them. Then, in order to understand the point of view of those who applied in the classroom the guidelines contained in the Plan, we interviewed and applied a Likert-tipe scale to the teachers involved - since our sample was only made up of teachers -, and observed three classes of each.

We noted that although some of them had not been in the genesis of the Plan, they invested in understanding and implementing it. We also noted there is a close relationship between the purposes reflected in the Plan and the teaching practices, this means that the teachers seemed to be aware of what they were being assigned and acted accordingly. We also noticed that their actions in the classroom were in line with the pre-active planning trend, often evoking a researching action and using the technology and real contexts. The care with clear and consistent explanation required of the students as well as the proposal of problems were options taken in many of the classes. We believe that the least succeeded aspect has to do with the implementation of pedagogical-didactic proposals involving the deductive reasoning competence.
In conclusive terms, and linking the literature review on the subject with the research in the field, we highlight an attitude towards school and knowledge, somewhat inappropriate to the dynamics of the classroom, presented by most of the students in the analyzed classes, clearly reflected in their behaviour, very different from those students´ in countries with high parameters of efficiency, such as Japan, China and Finland. Finally, and because educational research is recognized to be of great value, we claim that works should proceed in order to clarify our study.