In this book, I develop a critical structuralist approach to a study of
teachers' belief structures. I demonstrate how we can represent these
cognitive structures using sociological tools which I use to study how
two mathematics teachers cognitively organise and structure their
orientation toward their professional work. I adopt the position that
human activity is fundamentally social in character, that social
structures are dynamic and relational, yet exhibit a level of stability
which results in dispositions gelling into objective structures. I
develop a theoretical base, evolving a description of how we might
understand (or model) what I call "the professional orientation" of
mathematics teachers. I construct theoretical, conceptual and
methodological frameworks to enable me to study some of the underlying
relationships between mathematics teacher predispositions and social
structure.I draw on Pierre Bourdieu's approach to sociology and in
particular draw on the concepts of habitus, discourse and ideology. I
begin by socially and politically locating myself before moving on to
looking at how we can understand the way modern society operates.