Toward a Profession of Mathematics Education: Guidance from Jeremy Kilpatrick’s Words and Deeds

With reference to a list of attributes of professions suggested by Shulman—the obligation of service to others, the need for understanding of a scholarly or theoretical kind, a domain of skilled performance or practice, the exercise of judgment under conditions of unavoidable uncertainty, the need for learning from experience as theory and practice interact, and a professional community to monitor quality and aggregate knowledge—this chapter considers how those attributes apply to the professional field we call mathematics education. Using specific examples of contributions Jeremy Kilpatrick has made in his writings and professional activities, the paper argues that his leadership by example has mapped a pathway along which mathematics education can advance toward achieving the status of a full-fledged profession.