Development of Chinese Mathematics Education Research Culture: A Case Study

Inspired by the Bourbaki Seminar, the Chinese Professor Yan’s Seminar, and the needs of domestic mathematics curriculum reformation, Beijing Mathematics Education Seminar (BMES) was founded in 1995, bringing together teachers, postgraduates, and scholars working on mathematics education. It has been recognized as a typical case of local mathematics education research culture with Chinese characteristics. Based on the core elements of cultural–historical Activity Theory, the current study, as a diachronic case study, explores the development strategies and challenges that BMES has been confronting from three aspects, that is, the subject, the object, and the instruments. Qualitative research methodology of the text analysis, informal conversations, and semi-structured interviews has been applied. The results demonstrate that the development strategies of BMES mainly include the following three points: the relay of leaders and their followers, the leading and contemporary research agenda, and inclusive and cooperative discussion format. For the current and future development, BMES is also facing a number of challenges, including the following tensions: maintaining the balance between theoretical and practical research perspectives, the orientation for the research agenda, and the relative effectiveness of “lecture” and “discussion” formats. Furthermore, the case of BMES reflects the development of Chinese mathematics education research culture in the past 25 years and to a certain extent may provide an inspiration for the construction of mathematics education research culture in other countries.