Critical and creative thinking in probability teaching in the early years of elementary school

Abstract

The aim is to discuss the challenges and possibilities that permeate the development of critical and creative thinking in teaching probability concepts in the early years of elementary school. With a qualitative approach, the textbook and the protocols the students produced when executing the proposed activities and discussing them at moments of interaction in remote classes were explored through content analysis. We sought to understand how the textbook dealt with probability teaching, observing at what level it adapted to Brazil’s National Common Curricular Base (BNCC) regarding the methodological approach (allowing students’ heuristic activity and the emergence of their prior knowledge) and regarding the potential for developing critical and creative thinking. Students’ solutions to the proposed activities were also analyzed, with a view to finding evidence of possibilities for the development of those forms of thinking. The results indicate the following challenges: breaking with teaching practices that present concepts without resorting to heuristic activity and students’ prior knowledge, enabling them to put into action probabilistic thinking and allowing creativity and criticality to emerge. On the other hand, possibilities emerged regarding how to articulate the guidelines advocated in the BNCC, insofar as, when carrying out the proposed didactic sequence, we realized that students could develop probabilistic knowledge and exercise critical and creative thinking. We conclude that official documents and research have been striving to implement improvements in education. However, teachers must appropriate those changes in their classroom activities.