Mathematical modeling, mediator-guiding teacher, and constructivism: discursive interlacements in the constitution of the teaching figure

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to discuss the few conditions that made it possible for the emergence of the statement “the teacher, while developing Modeling activities, is no longer the transmitter but a mediator-mentor in the process of teaching” in the field of Mathematical Modeling from the perspective of Mathematical Education. We make use of the concepts, discourse, enunciate and statement from Michel Foucault's line of thought. The analytical material from which the aforementioned enunciate emerged encompasses theses and dissertations defended in the period between 1987 and 2016, which report, describe, or discuss the development of Modeling activities in the classroom of basic education. The analysis made it evident that the constructivist discourse did not consist only of a possibility for the emergence of the statement mediator-teacher, but also of the crystallization of this teaching representation as a pedagogic truth in the field of Mathematical Modeling.