Centers of interest read in primary education manuals: Is there arithmetic knowledge?

Abstract

The objective of this text is to analyze the presence of arithmetic knowledge in the didactic manual “The Centers of Interest in School” (1931), written by Abner de Moura, based on the appropriations of the ideas of Ovide Decroly. This work was guided by the studies developed by the Research Team in the History of Educational Sciences (ERHISE) and the studies by Roger Chartier (1991). The manual entitled "The Centers of Interest at School" presents Decroly's starts from the observation to elaborate a synthesis program: children's knowledge of their needs and knowledge of the human being - family, school and social, animal and plant environment. In this analysis, the teaching of mathematics should not be limited to time, covering every quantitative aspect that would arise from the other subjects. The concept of unity would be established in the union of observation, association and expression, responsible for coordinating the program of activities, aimed at a central idea.