ABSTRACT
As I have mentioned briefly in Chapter 1, my research into an investigative approach to the learning and teaching of mathematics is theoretically based in constructivism. My own perceptions of constructivism have developed considerably over and beyond the period of research, that is from 1985 until 1994. In 1994, as this book approaches publication, arguments are rife in the mathematics education community regarding constructivism as a theory of learning mathematics, its status and underpinnings (Ernest, 1994; Lerman, 1994). The perspective which I present in this chapter will largely trace the development of my own thinking, related to what others have written, up to and including the period of the research. Further reflections on my own developing thinking will occur throughout the book. I shall leave it until my final chapter to face some of the current controversies and their relation to my research.
