Viewing learning as complex participation in a community of practice characterized by mathematical inquiry

Abstract

Using elements of design experiment research and autoethnography, this action research project investigated how viewing learning as complex participation in a community of practice characterized by mathematical inquiry impacted my teaching practice in a grade 10 Applied Mathematics class in a rural Manitoba high school. This report of the research project describes and analyzes both my attempts to change my teaching practice by drawing on theories of learning mathematics as complex participation in a community of practice and the changes that resulted from these attempts. The analysis focuses on the characteristics of a community of practice characterized by mathematical inquiry, how I attempted to foster such a community, what challenges I faced when I changed my teaching practice in this way, and how insights from this practitioner research project can inform the teaching of mathematics as well as theorizing about the learning of mathematics.