Bharath Sriraman and Lyn English: Theories of mathematics education: seeking new frontiers. (Springer series: advances in mathematics education)

Abstract

Many years ago, I had the good fortune to board an airplane flight across the USA and find both Jim Greeno and David Clarke on the plane. The three of us quickly retired to the back of the airplane, where we had a wide-ranging conversation for more than 5 h. We talked about our different theoretical orientations to looking at classrooms. Clarke was involved in the study of student understanding; I was trying to model teaching; Greeno was focusing on the classroom community. As we discussed each other's work, we pursued points of commonality and difference, and the strengths and limitations of the approaches we had taken. (None was adequate to explain everything; each explained something that the others did not.) As always, a few people stood around the back of the plane, some stretching or otherwise occupied. At the end of the flight, the seat belt sign came on, and the three of us shook hands and prepared to go on our way.