Didactic Incidents: A Way to Improve the Professional Development of Mathematics Teachers

In this chapter the professional development of teachers is observed through the joint work of researchers and teachers. In the particular context of the European project EdUmatics, which focuses on mathematics education in a computer environment, the collaboration between researchers and teachers has helped both to build innovative situations and also to better understand the difficulties involved in the introduction of technology in classrooms. The theoretical framework of the theory of didactic situations, didactic incidents and documentational genesis allows the construction of analyses in order to better understand the students’ and teacher’s joint action and so to enhance teachers’ professional development. We highlight both the consistency of the framework and the contributions of our findings to the professional development of teachers.