The Construct of ‘Resource System’ as an Analytic Tool in Understanding the Work of Teaching.

Résumé En

This chapter examines professionally situated notions of ‘resource system’ relevant to the work of teaching, giving specific attention to mathematics teaching. Two historically significant exemplars are examined in the form of Euclid’s Elements as a systematic logical organisation of resources and Durell’s A New Geometry as a systematic didactical organisation of resources. Noting a subsequent shift towards the use of multi-sourced collections of resources, the chapter examines how teachers create organised systems, considering the evolving notions of ‘resource system’ in two contemporary theoretical frames: structuring features of classroom practice (Ruthven K, Education & Didactique 3:131–149, 2009) and the documentational approach (Gueudet G, Trouche L, Educational Studies in Mathematics 71:199–218, 2009). Different perspectives situate ‘resource system’ in contrasting ways: as adhering to a particular type of agent (teacher, student, designer) or as intervening between such agents; as relating to a specific educational entity (especially the classroom, the course or the lesson) or as ranging across and beyond these. Professionals and researchers have clearly found each of these variations useful for some purpose: an implication is that we could benefit from an expanded notion of ‘resource system’ which acknowledges all these dimensions and encourages users of the term to take more explicit account of them.