Theories as intellectual resources in mathematics education researches

The field of mathematics education research has seen a proliferation of theoretical frameworks and perspective being adopted by researchers. There are concerns that this phenomenon might be detrimental to progress in developing findings that can improve practice and therefore the learning experience of students in schools. In this paper I sketch a critical history of the development of that range of theories and discuss its effects. I argue that proliferation is not bad for the field; on the contrary it is unsurprising and of benefit to research in mathematics education