What does it mean to be a mathematical enquirer? — Learning as research

Abstract

This book has reported upon a study that was designed to meet two main objectives. The first was to listen to what research mathematicians had to say about how they come to know mathematics in order to see the degree of match with an epistemological model that I had devised. It was my hope that a match with the epistemological model would provide grounds for justifying changes in the pervasive pedagogy to be found in classrooms. The second objective was to ask if the epistemologies, but also the practices, beliefs, values and attitudes of the female mathematicians were the same as the males and, if not, in what ways they differed. The recognition of similarities and differences between the experiences of the female and male mathematicians, I hoped, would reinforce moves towards a more socially just experience than I had reason to believe currently existed in research and teaching cultures. In Chapter 9, I made clear that the formation of female and male mathematicians meant that they did not differ in the range of positions that they occupied on the five categories of the model. However, there were substantial differences in how they experienced power in the practices within the mathematical conununity, and these were discussed in Chapter 9. Such differences have pedagogic, as well as experiential consequences, for those setting out to learn mathematics. In this chapter, I summarise the findings and explore their pedagogical implications. Aspects of the mathematicians’ practices validate much current thinking in mathematics education about the teaching and learning of mathematics — a very welcome reinforcement that is underlined throughout the chapter.