Chapter 10: Researching Mathematics Pedagogy

The Observing Teachers project involved working with groups of middle school mathematics teachers in different regions of Canada to construct videos representing their practice. Groups then worked together to select videos that were typical of their region to be sent to teachers in other regions. The same groups then discussed the videos received from other regions. This research design drew on enactivist principles. In this chapter, we draw on these principles to reflect on some of the challenges that arose in implementing the project. In particular, we refer to three aspects of enactivist research highlighted by Simmt and Kieren (2015): the role of observers, the relationship between ontology and epistemology, and the role of ethics. Thinking about these ideas led us to notice four emergent themes relating to the process of enacting the project: researcher-teacher-learner relationships; unexpected events; learning to be a researcher; and insiders-outsiders. Underlying these themes is the importance of relationships in the conduct of research with mathematics teachers.