E Pluribus Unum: Challenges of Diversity in the Future of Mathematics Education Research

Abstract

Our task in preparing this article on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Journal for Research in Marhematics Education (JRME) was to look ahead to the future of research in the field and to identify and discuss issues that might be important for the next decade or two in the life of the journal. Rather than merely offering our own opinions and speculations. we decided to interview a number of other researchers, some from the United States and some from other countries, to sample their views regarding the current state of research in mathematics education, the issues that may affect the future of the field, and the role of the JRME in the current and future scene. In particular, we asked these researchers to identify examples of work they considered significant and to comment on its imponant characteristics. We probed their definitions of the field by asking them to identify the types of work (e.g., empirical studies, historical or theoretical analyses) they judged could legitimately be called research in mathematics education. We explored their visions of the future of research over the next few decades. And we questioned them about the role and place of the JRME in the research community and about its impact on the field. In addition, we participated in a conference on Research in Mathematics Education and Its Results in May 1994 that was part of a study conducted by the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI). The discussion document framing the study (Sierpinska et al., 1993) and many of the presentations and conversations at the ICMI Research Conference should be acknowledged as sources of ideas for the article. Naturally, we have included our own opinions, analyses, and perspectives.