My work as a teacher educator and my research have been intimately entwined, so I derive questions and insights from what I see and hear of learners’ mathematics alongside my own experiences of doing mathematics. In this talk, I describe pathways towards my understanding more about how learners gain a sense of the concept of functions. Here I focus mainly on secondary school mathematics (UK years 7 to 12) but my thinking influences how I work with teachers at all levels of school mathematics. My passion for mathematics, and experiences of learning and teaching it, colour everything I do in our field. The role of exemplification, particularly in how variations are presented in the public space of classrooms, have been central in this particular pathway.

Bio

Anne Watson is a professor emeritus in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford. Her areas of research include variation and example choice in mathematics teaching and learning, task design in mathematics education, learning mathematics through problem solving, and personal values and integrity as a teacher. Her most recent work is the book entitled Care in Mathematics Education: Alternative educational spaces and practices.