RELATIONSHIPS TO MATHEMATICS; RELATIONSHIPS TO LEARNING MATHEMATICS

Research in mathematics education is surely conducted for the benefit of teachers and the children they work with. The purpose of research might be viewed as being about opening spaces that allow us all to think about how our worlds may be changed. This paper will examine ways in which researchers can work with pupils and teachers to develop an authentic “voice ” that speaks to researchers, academics, administrators, and those who have responsibility in policy formation. By privileging experience over theory as a basis for understanding an opportunity is created for marginalized or “silenced ” groups to be heard. Using innovative and collaborative methods the research explores the relationships of groups of learners in schools in the UK to both mathematics and the learning of mathematics. It suggests that students may become disaffected as learners of mathematics as their self images become disconnected from their images of what it is to learn mathematics