Anne Watson

Current topics of interest:

care in mathematics education, see my 2021 book
variation and example choice in mathematics teaching and learning
task design in mathematics education
the development of functions knowledge throughout secondary school years
understanding proportionality through knowledge of multiplicative relationships
personal values and integrity as a teacher
learning mathematics through problem solving

What I do

I present keynotes and workshops, and give research advice, influenced by national and international research, as well as explorations of doing and learning mathematics in classrooms and other contexts. An important aspect of my work is the experience of doing mathematics together, drawing on the professional knowledge of the participants.

Experience

(I have retired from University of Oxford where I was Professor of Mathematics Education. I have worked extensively in many countries with teachers (preservice and inservice), teacher educators and researchers in all phases.

I served on the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education and was a main author for their report on the Mathematical Needs of Learners. I also became an active member of the Mathematics Expert Panel that advised on the National Curriculum. I am a member of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics (ATM), the British Society for Research into the Learning of Mathematics. I have worked with teachers, teacher educators and researchers in many countries, and advised on curriculum in England and Wales. With my husband, John Mason, (and the late Malcolm Swan) I ran an Annual Institute of Mathematics Pedagogy for four days in July/August in Oxford for 20 years. Now, in retirement, we run occasional free day workshops on mathematical themes that run throoughout the school curriculum.

I was a mathematics teacher and head of department in secondary schools in areas of social disadvantage. I led one of the school mathematics departments which pioneered a curriculum based on problem solving and investigation, under the auspices of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics. Our school results rose significantly at the time. Since then I have geared my research towards aspects of mathematics teaching that would make a difference to mathematics learning and expectations for all students.

Research

My main areas of research in Mathematics Education have been exemplification and task design in mathematics teaching and learning, from a variation theory perspective; the role of mathematics education in social justice issues; the use of fine-grained analysis of mathematics interaction within socio-cultural perspectives; the school mathematics curriculum and how it is taught and learnt. I am particularly interested in raising achievement in early adolescence.