Educação domiciliar e aprendizagem matemática: um estudo com sete famílias educadora do estado do Ceará

Abstract

In Brazil, homeschooling has gained prominence due to Bill 1338/22, approved by the House of Representatives in May 2022, which seeks to regulate this educational modality. However, the lack of regulation still results in a significant scarcity of academic studies investigating teaching, learning, and assessment in this context. This gap raises questions about the teaching learning process across different subjects in the homeschooling environment. In light of this scenario, the main objective of this study was to investigate the pedagogical aspects of homeschooling, with an emphasis on the mathematical learning of children at an age corresponding to the early years of elementary education. Seven homeschooling families residing in the state of Ceará participated in the research, totaling nine children aged between 5 and 11 years. The study was organized into two stages, each designed to answer one of the research questions. In the first stage, data collection instruments included a semi-structured interview with 34 questions and a social skills questionnaire. In the second stage, Math Kangaroo Contest tests were applied to evaluate the children’s performance. The research adopted a qualitative and interpretive approach, using a multiple case study methodology as proposed. The analysis of interview data followed the methods of direct individual interpretation and cross-case analysis suggested by the author. The results of the social skills questionnaire were examined qualitatively based on the scores obtained. The performance on the tests was evaluated through two analyses: a general analysis, based on the percentage of correct answers, and an individual analysis that considered the children’s reasoning in solving the questions, using Newman’s qualitative problem-solving analysis model. Finally, an interpretive analysis was conducted, grounded in the researcher’s observations and differentiated teaching. This approach enabled a deeper understanding of the mathematical learning of the participating children in the homeschooling context.