Abstract
Abstract The aim is to assess contribution provided by soroban – or Japanese abacus – not only for the students’ learning of number and operations content, but also in the development of their higher psychological functions. As an applied nature, it was developed under a pedagogical intervention for data collection and analysis. The eight participants were adult students, aged 19 to 47 years old, who attended a special education school in a city in the countryside of the state of Paraná - Brazil. The data was analyzed through assessment of the conversation. The students with intellectual disabilities participating in the study had limited knowledge regarding the use of numbers and operations in school situations and in different contexts of everyday life, so these concepts were taught to them. After the pedagogical intervention, they showed advances in this knowledge, appropriating both the concept of numbers and the use of soroban as a tool for performing mathematical calculations. As it is a human right to appropriate the knowledge produced historically and culturally by mankind, which in turn leads to development, teaching the use of soroban to students with intellectual disabilities promoted the learning of mathematical concepts, developing superior skills such as thought, defending the thesis proposed by this study that cognitive limitations of the intellectually disabled are not barriers to learning of an array of educational concepts.
Highlights
Access to education by disabled students is a right protected by Brazilian legislation, such as the Federal Constitution (BRASIL, 2016), Laws for Guidelines and Bases of National Education (BRASIL, 2017)
The learning of mathematics offered by EJA, many times does not correspond to the expectations nor to the needs of these people
The present study proposes teaching soroban to intellectually disabled adults with the vision of assessing the contributions provided by the tool in the learning of numbers and operations, as well as to the development of students
Summary
Access to education by disabled students is a right protected by Brazilian legislation, such as the Federal Constitution (BRASIL, 2016), Laws for Guidelines and Bases of National Education (BRASIL, 2017). They have the need to pursue appropriate means that allow educational objectives to be fulfilled (SHIMAZAKI; PACHECO, 2012) For those reasons, the present study proposes teaching soroban to intellectually disabled adults with the vision of assessing the contributions provided by the tool in the learning of numbers and operations, as well as to the development of students. Based on the aforementioned research outcomes, it is believed that the use of soroban as a calculation tool by intellectually disabled students provides benefits to learning operationrelated contents It encourages the development of language, reasoning, and other higher psychological functions. One can come up with a pedagogical action plan aiming at teaching by means of enough and effective mediation, thereby creating and consolidating successive ZPD, while providing them with access to and appropriation of scientific knowledge and development
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