Trends in Brazilian academic production in the History of Mathematics Education: directions from EBRAPEM

The number of papers on History of Mathematics Education presented at EBRAPEM (Brazilian Meeting of Graduate Students in Mathematics Education) has increased significantly between 2003 and 2008. This article presents a study with the aim of identifying themes, periods in focus, and sources and theoretical and methodological references used by the authors of the papers on History of Mathematics Education published in the proceedings of VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII EBRAPEM. The study indicates that the approach of ongoing research in History of Mathematics Education in Brazil has been similar to the approach of research in History of Education in general. However, the institutional separation between these two areas of investigation is noted as a factor rendering communication between both groups of researchers difficult.

Dynamics of change of mathematics education in Brazil and a scenario of current research

Mathematics education in Brazil, if we consider what one may call the scientific phase, is about 30 years old. The papers for this special issue focus mainly on this period. During these years, many trends have emerged in mathematics education to address the complex problems facing Brazilian society. However, most Brazilian mathematics educators feel that the separation of research into trends is a theoretical idealization that does not respond to the dynamics of the problems we face. We raise the conjecture that the complexity of Brazilian society, where pockets of wealth coexist with the most shocking poverty, has contributed to the adoption and generation of different strands in mathematics education, crossing the boundaries between trends. At a more micro level, we also raise the conjecture that Brazilian trends in research are interwoven because of the way that Brazilian mathematics educators have experienced the process of globalization over these 30 years. This tapestry of trends is a predominant characteristic of mathematics education in Brazil. © FIZ Karlsruhe 2009.

Memórias da educação sexual: relatos de educadoras sobre a infância e adolescência

Many educators have a history of sexual education characterized by sexual repression. Considering that the way people deal with their own sexuality may be related to the way they will approach the theme in the classroom, it is necessary to work with their sexual reeducation. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate educators´s memory about childhood and adolescence sex education. For this purpose, eight educators wrote a redaction about his memories of family and school sex education. As a result, it could be seen that most of the participants described that their sexual education by family have been omissive and understanding the school was the place where they learned about the topic in biology classes and in informal conversations.

Algumas reflexões sobre a condição da mulher brasileira da colônia às primeiras décadas do século XX

This article, about reflections on the condition of Brazilian women from the Colony to the first decades of the twentieth century, reveals the historical position of them and the attitudes and behaviors related to gender and sexuality. Subdued, it was treated as a sexual object, arousing all sorts of misogyny by men. Rebel, veiled or ostensibly, could serve their own desires. Throughout history, the Church and medical institutions which jointly accounted for, significantly, established the meaning and place of women. In Colony period, the woman is a ward from the Catholic ideology, but from the nineteenth century, after Independence, this power control arises to Medicine. The physician submits the religious discourse, naturalizing the status of women as one that breeds, namely the insertion of the medical issues of family scientifically legitimate colonial patriarchy. This is accentuated in the early twentieth century, when medicine consolidated setting standards and rules for marriage, to motherhood and family life. We note how the feminine universe was (and it is nowadays) ambivalent, with "one foot" in virtue and another in sin, with a tendency to contain and another to trespass. On the one hand we have the home and motherhood, validated in marriage, in which the woman is cared for and dependent on her husband. Reflecting on the motherhood of Virgin Mary, comes to the sacred dimension of the idealized woman saint by the Church. At the same time, however, feels the need for freedom, identity and independence, needing to give a voice to the desire to have their sexuality and all that it is due in full. The manifestation of the desire and the call for sexual satisfaction, and put in permanent conflict personal, psychological and social split between moral entrenched across generations and cultural transformations resulting from decades of the 20th Century.

The Development of Science Education Research in Brazil and Contributions from the History and Philosophy of Science

Over the last 50 years a new research area, science education research, has arisen and undergone singular development worldwide. In the specific case of Brazil, research in science education first appeared systematically 40 years ago, as a consequence of an overall renovation in the field of science education. This evolution was also related to the political events taking place in the country. We will use the theoretical work of Rene Kaes on the development of groups and institutions as a basis for our discussion of the most important aspects that have helped the area of science education research develop into an institution and kept it operating as such. The growth of this area of research can be divided into three phases: The first was related to its beginning and early configurations; the second consisted of a process of consolidation of this institution; and the third consists of more recent developments, characterised by a multiplicity of research lines and corresponding challenges to be faced. In particular, we will analyse the special contributions to this study gleaned from the field known as the history and philosophy of science.

Natural history of the coral snake Micrurus Pyrrhocryptus Cope 1862 (Elapidae) from semideciduous forests of western Brazil.

Coral snakes in the genus Micrurus are widely distributed in the Neotropics, with more than 50 species already described in this region. They are primarily ground or leaf litter dwellers, feed on snakes or other elongate vertebrates, and tend to reproduce during the rainy season. We present data on the biology of Micrurus pyrrhocryptus from two semideciduous forests of Mato Grosso do Sul state, western Brazil. Two snake species were consumed: the dipsadid Sibynomorphus lavillai and the typhlopid Typhlops brongersmianus. Sexual dimorphism is marked in M. pyrrhocryptus. with males attaining larger sizes and having longer tails. Activity was concentrated in the wet season, when reproduction occurs. The defensive behavior in this species is similar to that displayed by other Micron's, although less pronounced.

The behavior and natural history of Chartergellus, a little-known genus of neotropical social wasps (Vespidae Polistinae Epiponini)

This study reviews published data on the behavior and natural history of Chartergellus and presents the first observations on social interactions in this genus of tropical swarm-founding wasps. Observations of Chartergellus golfitensis in Costa Rica and C. punctatior in Colombia showed that queens perform a post-oviposition egg-guarding vigil, and a bending display like that characteristic of epiponine social wasps that lack consistent morphological differences between workers and queens and have caste determination in the adult stage. Young, old, and queen (egg-laying) females of C. golfitensis showed small differences that indicate color changes with age, and structural differences that could be due to seasonal or colony-cycle changes in developmental conditions, but do not rule out the possibility of pre-adult caste determination, a phenomenon that needs to be carefully distinguished from pre-adult caste bias. Sexual dimorphism and the behavior of males at the nest in C. golfitensis is described, as well as the aggressive and avoidance behavior of females toward males. Nest structure in both species is as described previously for Chartergellus species, but some anomalies and their possible evolutionary significance are discussed. Cell initiation by an egg-laying queen, a behavior never seen by workers, and by a young female with slightly developed ovaries, may be vestiges of ancestral solitary reproductive traits where developed ovaries are associated with cell construction. © 2010 Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica dell'Università, Firenze, Italia.