Algebraic thinking in the early years of elementary school: reflections necessary for teacher education from the perspective of the theory of objectification

This article aims to discuss the characterization of algebraic thinking from the perspective of the theory of objectification in order to raise reflections necessary for teacher education who teach K1 through K5 (the first years of elementary school). The theoretical discussion is based on the concepts of knowing, knowledge, learning, mathematical thinking, among others. In turn, some reflections are presented based on a section of the empirical data of a master's dissertation. In the context of the aforementioned qualitative formative research, a multimodal approach was adopted for the analysis of the videotaped data. Among the results, the emergence of the elements that characterize algebraic thinking (indeterminacy, denotation and analyticity) in the collective engagement between the teachers and the researcher-educator is highlighted through the discursive and non-discursive elements. In short, it is argued that the articulations of different semiotic means with the use of cultural artifacts, digital or not, can move and resignify algebraic thinking, both in teacher education and in basic education.