Amanda Lee - PhD Candidate

Title of research project:

In what way does a mathematics module informed by an enactivist philosophy and teaching pedagogy enable pre-service teachers to unpack the reality of their teaching practice in terms of proficient teaching.

Project outline:

It is the intention of this research to determine whether a curriculum underpinned by enactivist philosophy and teaching pedagogy will enable participants (pre-service teachers) to unpack their teaching practice in terms of teaching for proficiency.
The study firstly focuses on drawing participants’ attention to what embodied views of cognition reveal about their personal proficiency in mathematics, identity and self development and their perceptions of what proficiency in mathematics entails. Secondly, the study attempts to ascertain how pre-service teachers embodied perceptions of their mathematical proficiency support their own teaching for mathematical proficiency, during practical tutorial sessions, within Kilpatrick’s et al (2001) framework for mathematical proficiency. The third cycle of the study will ascertain the extent to which participants (now qualified teachers) perceive that the mathematics module underpinned by enactivist philosophy and teaching pedagogy has enabled them to teach for proficiency.

Email: mandylee@telkomsa.net

Supervisor: Prof Marc Schafer m.schafer@ru.ac.za