Professionalism in process: Mathematics teacher as researcher from a South African perspective

Abstract

The ‘teacher as researcher’ movement highlights the concept of ‘teacher as researcher’ and claims a key role for teachers in the production of knowledge about teaching. It constitutes teaching as an inquiring process, and as a powerful context and practice for professional development. This paper explores the potential of the teacher as researcher movement for the professional development of mathematics teachers in South Africa. It argues that themovement has particular historical roots in contexts of professionalism very different from South Africa. It proposes that the notion ‘teacher as inquirer’ is more inclusive of the very diverse teaching conditions in South Africa. It also argues that such a conception of the teacher could contribute to a more general theorisation of the teacher as researcher movement. © 1997, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.