Examining the Dialectics of Classroom Practice and Mathematics Education Research

Research in mathematics teacher education (MTE) is a reflexive practice. It discursively examines the meanings in the work of teaching using analysis of practices such as choice of examples, representations and responsiveness to students. An understanding of the complex practice is achieved by deconstructing teachers’ knowledge and practice using existing typologies and frameworks. In this article, I use the data from classroom teaching to raise some questions about the praxis of MTE research. The article argues that: (a) researchers’ theoretical positions make specific descriptions of teaching practice visible, (b) reflexive analysis of classroom practice can help raise questions about the goals of mathematics education and MTE research and (c) research(ers’) positioning plays an important role in constructing descriptions of practice, which has implications for policy and practice. I conclude with an emphasis on the need for a dialogic relationship between research and teaching by fluidly navigating the boundaries of ascribed social positioning.