"THE FORMULAS ARE THE PROBLEM"

a study of the sense attributed to the difficulty in learning mathematics.

Abstract

This paper discusses one of the results of a research whose purpose was to problematize the statement: "To learn Mathematics is difficult". The theoretical basis of the study was Ethnomathematics, entwined with the Post-structuralist thinking and Ludwig Wittgenstein's ideas in "Philosophical Investigations". The empirical part of the research was carried out in group discussions with high school students in a public state school in Canoas, RS. The data analysis showed that the difficulty in learning Mathematics is attributed to the formalism and abstraction found in this area of knowledge.