Study Groups in Mathematics: Teachers’ Perspectives and Pedagogical Implications

Despite various pedagogical initiatives to overcome students’ difficulties in Mathematics in the Early Years of Elementary School, such as the study groups of the Official Network of Vinhedo/SP, there is a lack of research on how teachers perceive this pedagogical action. This study is based on the Central Core Theory and uses the Free Word Association Technique with 103 teachers to understand the meanings attributed to the study groups. The analyses revealed that the possible central terms of the teachers’ Social Representations were “reasoning”, “tutoring classes”, and “playful”, indicating that the study groups are seen as spaces for recovery, expected to have a playful approach to overcome learning difficulties. At the same time, from the teachers’ perspective, they may assume a compensatory role to fill possible sociocultural gaps.