Extemporaneous Intervention to Construct a Financial Education History

Abstract

Background: The inclusion of financial education in the mathematics curriculum of the basic Brazilian education, both in elementary and high school, has been the subject of discussion in recent academic research, as well as in propositional and normative documents, such as the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC). Objective: This article aims to present the theoretical and methodological perspective used to build a history of financial education, which is part of the mathematics curriculum taught in Brazilian public schools. Design: For this, we use conceptual tools proposed by Michel Foucault, inspired by Nietzsche’s writings, such as the concepts of Herkunft (provenance) and Entestehung (emergence). Scenario and Participants: We rely on the writings of Michel Foucault, studying the teaching of mathematics, in the specificity of this theme, with contributions from philosophical and historical writing, also inspiring us in the concepts of genealogy, union between philosophy and history, according to Nietzsche. Data collection and analysis: The textbooks were collected from the Museu da Escola Catarinense, while the academic works were retrieved from CAPES data bank for the qualitative analysis. Results: Hence, five methodological precautions for the analysis of power and the constitution of an object called financial education are described, namely: the financial education theme comes from a dispersion of practices, and not from an origin; we are interested in the power relations that are engendered, and that forge a financial education; the subjects are agents and effects of utterances forming a discursive network on economics; the analysis focuses on the mechanisms, techniques, and tactics, not on the centre of the power; financial education is the topic that results from the confrontation of power relations. Conclusions: With this research, we intended to make an extemporaneous intervention so that it is possible for teachers to reflect and problematise their practice in the face of this new role they are attributed.