Practice Theory in Mathematics Education Research

There is a long history of mathematics being explored through a range of theoretical perspectives, and over time they seem to have steadily improved our understanding of how mathematics is taught and learned. Predominately, these have been epistemological theories which have focused on cognitive and affective dimensions. However, despite this plethora of research and theorizing aiming at the development and improvement of (classroom) practice, it still seems that for many their mathematics learning is floundering, and it is common in many countries for people to dislike mathematics and see it as either irrelevant for their daily lives and/or incredibly hard to learn. Furthermore, there has been a prolonged issue of learning transfer in mathematics education, where there seems to be great difficulty for learners to transfer the mathematical knowledge they learn to other contexts, fields, or practice. For these reasons, in this chapter a different perspective on mathematics education is presented—an ontological practice approach. The aim is not to supersede what has gone before, but rather to offer an alternate way to consider learning in mathematics that may provide some complementary insights.