The Role and Nature of Fidelity in Theory-Practice Advancement

Within the long-standing theory-practice debate in mathematics education, we situate the role and nature of fidelity as a principle of intellectual honesty involving the faithful use of theories in the furtherance of the discipline. Building on three major waves of events that mathematics education has witnessed over the course of its development (constructivism, ability/intelligence, and neuroscience), we attempt to delineate the fidelity threats that the discipline endures. The fidelity threats emanate from the social nature of the discipline and the way discourses are held as theories are appropriated from other domains of knowledge. We distinguish between three types of theory articulators: theory producers, theory transmitters, and theory users to situate the sources of fidelity threats. This chapter makes a call for elevating the fidelity criterion alongside the well-established reliability, validity, and ethical dimensions of research as mathematics education attempt to establish itself as a robust discipline.