Meanings of Interdisciplinarity Attributed by Mathematics Teachers’ Educators and Teachers of the Municipal Schools of São Paulo

Abstract

Background: within the scope of public educational policies, the research focuses on the recontextualisation of the principle of interdisciplinarity of the Programa Mais Educação São Paulo (More Education Programme) for mathematics teachers’ pedagogical practices. Objective: to discuss the meanings attributed to interdisciplinarity by mathematics teachers’ educators and teachers. Design: we used Basil Bernstein’s curriculum theories and the theory of the pedagogic device, exploring the concepts of pedagogical recontextualisation and pedagogical practice. We conducted qualitative research of a deductive-interpretative nature. Settings and Participants: the subjects are mathematics teachers’ educators involved in implementing the programme and mathematics teachers working in the Interdisciplinary Cycle in the municipality of São Paulo. Data collection and analysis: we used semi-structured interviews, as they allow the production of singular meanings of the subjects’ perspectives on the process of recontextualisation of the principle of interdisciplinarity. Data analysis was performed by theme/category-based content analysis. Results: as the discourse of interdisciplinarity is moved to pedagogical practice, educators and teachers reveal conceptual and methodological gaps to carry out interdisciplinary work in schools. When working from an interdisciplinary perspective, they opt for integrative projects, which has already been carried out through the methodology of the generating themes. Conclusions: we clarify the need to invest in an interdisciplinary teacher education model to change the logic of a fragmented school disconnected from contemporary issues. We argue that in this globalised world we live in, permeated by complex issues, we can no longer be restricted by the boundaries of an area of knowledge.