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2009 FRF Chair of Mathematics Education
2006 A2 Research Rating
National Research Foundation South Africa
2003 recipient of the Vice Chancellor?s Research Award
at the University of the Witwatersrand
I have three major inter-related areas of research:
Professional Development of Mathematics Teachers
I currently run a large and longitudinal Research and Development Project as part of the FRF-SARCHI Chair award. This work includes the research on mathematical work of teaching (see below) builds on the work in QUANTUM (see below) with the research focus on the the development of mathematical judgement as a key lever in the mathematical work of teaching. Five current PhD fellows (Vasen Pilly, Shadrack Moalosi; Moneoang Leshota , Regina Essack and Ntsiki Luxomo) are undertaking research in this project. As a five year study, the project allows for tracking of teachers and learners in schools, in relation to the professional development project. While the development work spans the curriculum, the research is focused on Algebra and Functions. This work follows earlier professional development research done. Between 1996 and 1999, I directed a research project that has since culminated in a book entitled: Challenges of teacher development: An investigation of take-up from formalised in-service in South Africa. (See Selected publications) The contents of this book and the multiple authors of its various chapters reflect the inter-disciplinary nature of this research and its team-work. A large number of mathematics-specific publications have resulted from this research project. Furthermore, in addition to supporting staff research development, the project provided a research development home for a group of Masters and Doctoral students, particularly in Mathematics Education.
A key finding of the FDE study was the complexity of the relationship between subject knowledge development in teacher education programmes, teachers' classroom practices and learner performance. Despite claims and the widely held view that more subject knowledge = better teaching (and no one disputes the significance of subject knowledge for teaching) how much more and what kind of more remain questions for research (and are the focus of my current research see below). The key theoretical development from the FDE research project was an understanding and use of social practice theory (learning to teach through participation in communities of practice) in exploring and explaining teachers' learning. Colleagues and graduate students continue to work in this field.
Mathematical work of teaching
The vexed nature of Mathematical work that teachers do has been the focus of research since 2001, when theQUANTUM projectand the B Sc Honours Programme were set up. I directed a national research team between 2002 and 2007 in an investigation into the nature of mathematical knowledge for teaching and the complex relationship between mathematics in teacher education, and teachers? mathematical practices. The first phase of this research has focused on how such knowledge is conceptualised and operationalised in teacher education in South Africa. The second phase elaborated studies of teacher education, and parallel with this are studies of mathematical work teachers do across a range of classrooms in South Africa. A significant contribution of this research is in its methodology for studying the constitution of mathematics for teaching in sites of teacher education. This methodology has since been developed for studying the constitution of mathematics and teachers' knowledge in use in school mathematics classrooms. Publications since 2004 have emanated from this project, and done in collaboration with colleagues across Universities in South Africa, in particular Zain Davis, UCT, Diane Parker, UKZN (now at DoE). International collaborators (in varying degrees) have included Professor Steve Lerman, Southbank, UK; Professor Margaret Brown, Kings College, UK, and Professors Deborah Ball, Hyman Bass and Joan Ferrini-Mundy in the USA. These latter have assisted with elaborating and clarifying a focus for the second phase, where attention will shift off teacher education and onto an examination of the mathematical work of teaching as part of mathematics classroom practice. Students who have completed doctorates in this area include Diane Parker, and Dany Huillet from Eduoardo Mondlane University in Mozambique. Doctoral students studying in this area include Lynn Bowie and Tony Essien, doctoral fellows at Wits, Craig Pournara from Wits, Patricia Nalube from Zambia and Kelibogile Matonga from Botwana.
Working in multilingual classrooms
My first major research project concerned issues related to teaching mathematics in multilingual classrooms. This research began in 1991 and culminated in an academic book published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in June 2001. (See Selected Publications). I have delivered a number of national and international plenary and keynote addresses on this research. I continue to have Graduate students in this field and in the broad area of mathematics education and language.
In addition:
I have collaborated with Professor Renuka Vithal at the University of Durban Westville, on the Learner Perspective Project, an international study, Directed by Professor David Clarke in Australia. Prof Vithal directed the South African arm of the project. Associate Professor Godfrey Sethole (Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa) developed his doctoral work from this project.
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