Descendência japonesa e o bom desempenho em matemática: uma reflexão sobre as causas. / Japanese descendants and the good perfomance in mathematis: a reflection about the causes.

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

The good performance of Japanese descendents in mathematics is not new to most of the people. Nevertheless, the interpretations about the causes of this result can be divergent. We start this research in order to demystify some conceptions about this theme. To base this intention, at first we looked for a collection of statistical data that characterized our starting point, we fell back upon the data banks of institutions responsible for the entrance examinations of the two largest public universities in the country USP and UNESP (FUVEST and VUNESP, respectively). Such collection widely confirmed the initial sensation regarding the differentiated performance of the Japanese descendents. From this, we started the search for the reasons that could justify the facts observed. Our hypothesis was that the cultural factors involved would be decisive in the interpretation of such collection. Even having such perspective as starting point, we moved through varied territories where the discussion about the genetic or innate characteristics was present, building arguments that justified the initial hypothesis. In such search, Keith Devlin and his book The Math Gene performed a fundamental role. Having as base the facts presented in this book, we will also realize that it is not the question to disregard the innate biological capacities but to understand that in the case of the mathematics learning, such capacities are present in all human beings, in an analogue way to what occurs with the competence to learn the mother tongue. Turning to the discussion about the culture influence on the cognitive process, we tried to understand the way how the cultural elements influence the valorization of the education, promoting, specifically, the relationship between students and the mathematics. In their school life in Japan, or overseas, as the case of the Japanese descendents who live in Brazil the students educated according to such principles develop feelings and favorable affective relations with the school, revealing a great influence of the culture in the personal upbringing. In the history of Japan, we searched the way how certain factors, as the geographical fragility and the scarce natural resources were important elements that contributed to valorization of the education. In the specific case of the Nipo-Brazilian descendents, we can apprehend that some original cultural elements, such respect to the hierarchy, the debt ethics, the religious disposition which strongly appear in the constitution of the Japanese being, despite changed by the assimilation of characteristic traits of the Brazilian culture, they still present important remnants from their descendents. As a complement, a new factor appears strongly as motivation of the Japanese descendent students, in Brazil: the search of economic ascension, and consequently, professional, by means of education make these students act with much devotion on this project of life. Such feelings stimulate the students in the sense of value the effort, the will, the dedication when facing the natural difficulties found in his school life. We concluded our study with the expectative of having shown clearly the decisive weight of cultural elements in the interpretation of the differentiated results obtained among us by the Japanese descendents.

ASSUNTO(S)

japanese descent. cognitive process descendência japonesa cultura educação education culture processo cognitivo

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