Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Contradictions, dialectical oppositions and shifts in teaching mathematics

  • Published:
Educational Studies in Mathematics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The study reported in this paper concerns the tensions and conflicts that teachers experience while they enact a new set of reform-oriented curricular materials into their classrooms. Our focus is οn the interactions developed in two groups of teachers in two schools for a period of a school year. We use Activity Theory to study emerging contradictions and we elaborate on the construct of dialectical opposition to understand the nature of these contradictions and their potential for teacher learning. We provide evidence that discussions about contradictions and their dialectical character in the two groups support teachers to engage differently in mathematics teaching and learning and carry potentials for shifts in the practices that evolve in their classrooms. Our study addresses empirically in the context of mathematics teaching the philosophical claim about the role of contradictions as a driving force for any dynamic system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bliss, J., Monk, M., & Ogborn, J. (1983). Qualitative data analysis for educational research. London: Croom Helm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barab, S. A., Barnett, M., Yamagata-Lynch, L., Squire, K., & Keating, T. (2002). Using activity theory to understand the systemic tensions characterizing a technology-rich introductory astronomy course. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 9(2), 76–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M. (2009). The teacher–tool relationship: Theorizing the design and use of curriculum materials. In J. T. Remillard, B. Herbel-Eisenman, & G. Lloyd (Eds.), Mathematics teachers at work: Connecting curriculum materials and classroom instruction (pp. 17–36). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, O., & Heater, B. (2010). Understanding change through a high school mathematics teacher’s journey to inquiry-based teaching. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 13(6), 445–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory. A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Choppin, J. (2011). Learned adaptations: Teachers’ understanding and use of curriculum resources. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 14(5), 331–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, M., & Engeström, Y. (1993). A cultural historical approach to distributed cognition. In G. Salomon (Ed.), Distributed cognitions: Psychological and educational considerations (pp. 1–46). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dey, I. (1999). Grounding grounded theory. Guidelines for qualitative inquiry. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engeström, Y. (2001). Expansive learning at work: Toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of Education and Work, 14(1), 133–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engeström, Y., Engeström, R., & Suntio, A. (2002). Can a school community learn to master its own future? An activity‐theoretical study of expansive learning among middle school teachers. In G. Wells & G. Claxton (Eds.), Learning for life in the 21st century (pp. 211–224). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fischbein, E. (1987). Intuition in science and mathematics: An educational approach. Dordrecht: Reidel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodchild, S., & Jaworski, B. (2005). Identifying contradictions in a teaching and learning development project. In H. L. Chick & J. L. Vincent (Eds.), Proceedings of the 29th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (vol. 3, pp. 41–47). Melbourne, Australia: PME Program Committee.

  • Ilyenkov, E. V. (2009). The ideal in human activity. Pacifica: Marxists Internet Archive.

  • Jaworski, B., & Potari, D. (2009). Bridging the micro- and the macro-divide: Using an activity theory model to capture sociocultural complexity in mathematics teaching and its development. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 72(2), 219–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leont’ev, A. N. (1978). Activity, consciousness and personality. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, C. C., Perry, R. R., & Hurd, J. (2009). Improving mathematics instruction through lesson study: A theoretical model and North American case. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 12(4), 285–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Potari, D. (2013). The relationship of theory and practice in mathematics teacher professional development: An activity theory perspective. ZDM, 45(4), 507–519.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Potari, D., Sakonidis, H., Chatzigoula, R., & Manaridis, A. (2010). Teachers’ and researchers’ collaboration in analyzing mathematics teaching: A context for professional reflection and development. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 13, 473–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Presmeg, N. (1992). Prototypes, metaphors, metonymies and imaginative rationality in high school mathematics. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 23, 595–610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Remillard, J. (2005). Examining key concepts in research on teachers’ use of mathematics curricula. Review of Educational Research, 75(2), 211–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Remillard, J. T., & Bryans, M. B. (2004). Teachers’ orientations toward mathematics curriculum materials: Implications for teacher learning. Journal of Research in Mathematics Education, 35(5), 352–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roth, W.-M. (2007). Emotion at work: A contribution to third-generation cultural historical activity theory. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 14, 240–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, W.-M., & Radford, L. (2011). A cultural-historical perspective on mathematics teaching and learning. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sakonidis, C., & Potari, D. (2014). Mathematics teacher educators’/researchers’ collaboration with teachers as a context for professional learning. ZDM, 46(2), 293–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sfard, A. (1991). On the dual nature of mathematical conceptions: Reflections on processes and objects as different sides of the same coin. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 22, 1–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sfard, A. (2008). Thinking as communicating. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Skott, J. (2001). The emerging practices of a novice teacher: The roles of his school mathematics images. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 4(1), 3–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skott, J. (2004). The forced autonomy of mathematics teachers. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 56, 227–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skott, J. (2009). Contextualising the notion of belief enactment. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 12(1), 27–46. doi:10.1007/s10857-008-9093-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steiner, H. G. (1985). Theory of mathematics education (TME): An introduction. For the Learning of Mathematics, 5(2), 11–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stouraitis, K. (2016). Decision making in the context of enacting a new curriculum: an activity theoretical perspective. In C. Csíkos, A. Rausch, & J. Szitányi (Eds.), Proceedings of the 40th conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (vol. 4, pp. 235–242). Szeged: PME.

  • Yamagata-Lynch, L. C., & Haudenschild, M. T. (2009). Using activity systems analysis to identify inner contradictions in teacher professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(3), 507–517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 84, Athens, Greece

    Konstantinos Stouraitis & Despina Potari

  2. Department of Mathematics Education, Linnaeus University, 351 95, Växjö, Sweden

    Despina Potari & Jeppe Skott

Authors
  1. Konstantinos Stouraitis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Despina Potari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jeppe Skott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Konstantinos Stouraitis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Stouraitis, K., Potari, D. & Skott, J. Contradictions, dialectical oppositions and shifts in teaching mathematics. Educ Stud Math 95, 203–217 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-017-9749-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-017-9749-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation