Matemáticas do Maracapucu: o potencial criativo e as inteligências divergentes na Amazônia Paraense

Abstract

In the vast expanses of the riverside regions of the Amazon in Pará, where the waters flow like lifelines, unique forms of mathematics emerge—rooted in sociocultural practices. The mathematics education shaped within this territory transcends the boundaries of conventional classrooms, incorporating knowledge, values, and traditions interwoven with the lives and identities of local communities. This thesis is situated within the context of a critical and inclusive mathematics education. Its objectives are to understand the creative potential revealed in the mathematical practices of young people with divergent intelligences living in a riverside community; to describe the forms of mathematics that emerge from the participants’ sociocultural practices; and to identify how school mathematics influences their foregrounds, that is, their expectations for the future. The research adopts a qualitative approach, woven from the daily experiences of three young individuals from the community of Santa Maria do Maracapucu, located in the municipality of Abaetetuba, in the northeastern region of the state of Pará, Brazil. The methodology is based on field research with ethnographic features, focusing on data construction through immersive experiences with the participants. Dialogues were conducted with sensitive listening, following their community activities and valuing their ideas, procedures, mathematical practices, and local cultural diversity. The theoretical foundation of the study is grounded in Critical Mathematics Education, drawing on the ideas of Skovsmose (2001), and Ethnomathematics, as proposed by D’Ambrosio (2005). The thesis therefore discusses the relationship between critical mathematics education and inclusive education, as well as the mathematical practices present in the participants’ daily lives, in order to demonstrate the connection between divergent mathematics and the historically produced sociocultural reality. It also highlights the protagonism of the participants and the collective construction of knowledge throughout the lived experiences, whose narratives contributed to understanding how mathematics influences the participants’ future perspectives and strengthens cultural ties between them and their community. The results reveal divergent mathematics expressed in practices such as selling gasoline by the riverbank, navigating the rabeta (motorized canoe), and through the lens of a cell phone. These findings support the importance of an education that considers individuals’ sociocultural contexts, their ethnomathematical knowledge, and their cultural practices – valuing cognitive diversity and stimulating creative potential – so that individuals may mathematize knowledge and express their intelligence.