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During my years of working with inclusion and mathematics education, I have learned
that concerns present in schools and in society in general do not always coincide
with academic concerns, particularly in mathematics education research. This mismatch
of priorities led me to reflect on how to redirect my work efforts. Schools, colleges,
and all teaching institutions often need to deal with urgent issues, where there is
no time for ideas to mature. It is necessary to act. It is not possible to wait for
the research timing. Research, on the other hand, needs to go through the academic
process to be validated by peers and, later, published. These differences in timing
and priorities cause frustration, conflicts, dissatisfaction, and disagreements. How
can we reconcile the research timing and priorities with the urgent needs of the schools?
Actions to meet these needs of the school's daily life require reflection, fieldwork, and a theoretical basis. Creating teaching materials that supposedly solve all the school's inclusion problems without talking to teachers, lecturers, students, and families can create more obstacles than benefits. Without political, ethical, and theoretical foundations, one can make mistakes, both teachers and researchers. However, not acting—as a researcher or as a teacher—can contribute to worsening situations of exclusion. Thus, I want to discuss how research time can be respected, so that a relationship can be created between research and the practical and urgent demands of schools and universities in such a way they can tune their priorities.
But this cannot be done alone, and it is almost impossible to meet both demands at
the same time. I, for example, who find myself in the position of teaching and researching,
to focus on practical and urgent demands, such as contributing to prepare the university
campus and local schools, teachers and lecturers, to include students with disability,
need Ole Skovsmose to tell me that Critical Mathematics Education considers the hopes
and aspirations of students and teachers. I need Miriam Penteado to tell me that we
need to move towards a discomfort zone to achieve changes and to remind me that students
with diverse backgrounds, abilities, and needs can engage with mathematics meaningfully
and successfully. I need Raquel Milani to tell me that dialogue is not just an exchange
of phrases between people. I need Rachel Lambert and Paulo Tan to tell me about the
humanization of mathematics education for students with disabilities and an inclusive
approach that values diverse ways of learning. I need Lulu Healy to tell me how important
it is working on multisensory approaches and promoting inclusive pedagogical strategies
that enable all students to participate fully in mathematical activities. I need Aldo
Parra to tell me that I need strong theoretical foundations and meaningful examples
to propose a practice or a concept preventing theories from becoming empty activism
without reflection. I need Arindam Bose to tell me that mathematical knowledge is
embedded in cultural practices and everyday work. I need Ravi Subramaniam to tell
me that to address the diverse learning needs of students I need to recognize the
various barriers they face in accessing quality education. I need Terezinha Nunes,
Maria do Carmo Domite, Jonei Cerqueira Barbosa, Wagner Rodrigues Valente, David Clarke,
Paul Cobb, Jo Boaler and many others, to show me that there is a significant gap between
the time required to conduct academic research and the practical urgency of schools.
Nevertheless, I also need Sharifah Sekalala, Shajoe Lakepara, Sarah Hodges and Yureshya Perera to tell me about the risk of the rhetoric of urgency, and that privileged countries (analogously, privileged people) live outside of time, while poor countries (analogously, oppressed people) live without time, and that we need to think about time equity. I also need Carl Honoré and Jenny Odel to tell me that there is value in slowness, reflection, and intentionality. I need my master students, to show me that I still have a lot to learn concerning time and work. I need David Bowers to tell me that doing something is sometimes worse than doing nothing. I need Roberto Baldino to tell me that one teaches while listening and learns while speaking. I need the Guarani Mbya, the Terena, the Krenak, the Kaingang, and the Guarani Nhandewa/Tupi Guarani indigenous peoples from Brazil to tell me that once we start something in group we have to finish it, and wait until everybody participates before moving on to another activity, no matter how long it takes. I need all of you, not only those mentioned here, so I can choose to use my time on care and on identifying and removing barriers that cause exclusion in educational contexts, such as schools, universities and institutions that organizes public exams, entrance exams, and educational assessments.
Therefore, this conversation will be about possibilities for reconciling research
time and research priorities with the urgent needs of schools, colleges, and other
spaces alike, accompanied by an autobiographical account over my 20 years of work
on the issue of inclusion and mathematics education.
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My interests in teaching and research are broadly located in critical mathematics
education, inclusive mathematics education, inclusive assessments, Indigenous education,
and Indigenous school education.
I teach undergraduate courses on mathematics teacher practice, calculus, linear algebra and analytical geometry in the courses on teacher preparation. As part of the undergraduate course on Indigenous Intercultural Degree offered by the Federal University of São Paulo, I offer courses on counting, space, geometry, measurement, and space. In the postgraduate program in Science and Mathematics teaching, I teach courses on critical mathematics education and inclusion.
In both my teaching and research, I have been working broadly on issues of inclusion
and mathematics education since 2005. I have worked as a teacher in math classrooms
for the deaf and worked towards adapting entrance exams for blind students and creating
strategies for the inclusion of students diagnosed with autism. I have coordinated
the Accessibility and Inclusion Center of the UNIFESP - Diadema Campus since its creation
in 2024.
I have been researching structures that exclude people with disabilities from formal
education institutions, such as assessments and entrance exams, with the support of
co-workers and my research group. The group has been proposing ways to change such
exclusionary structures, seeking to transform formal education institutions into more
inclusive places.
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