This paper reports on initial findings from the Visible Maths Pedagogy research project, a collaboration between an academic researcher and two teacher researchers (the paper's authors). The aim of the project was to explore the effects of making pedagogy more visible on students' success in school mathematics. We adopted a Participatory Action Research methodology to plan and evaluate five strategies used alongside 'progressive' teaching approaches to make the teacher's pedagogical rationale more visible to learners. Our findings show that students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, were initially prone to misinterpret the intentions of the teacher. However, the five strategies helped students gain a greater appreciation of the teacher's pedagogical rationale and how to respond appropriately. We discuss the implications of these findings for enabling all students to access the benefits of progressive teaching approaches and for opening up to scrutiny what it means to be a successful learner of mathematics.

This paper focuses on the development of a model of research and professional development which aims to bring about transformations in classroom practice in situations that have previously proved resistant to change. We explore the reasons why conventional approaches to research have failed to address one such situation, the continuing predominance of teacher-centred pedagogies in mathematics classrooms. We review conventional models of professional development from the perspective of teacher agency and engagement in and with research processes. We highlight how a critical model of participatory action research offers the potential for transforming situations in which more conventional approaches have failed. We draw on the findings from the Visible Mathematics Pedagogy research project to highlight how this model can be refined to enhance its potential to bring about changes in classroom practice. We report on research tools and processes that were developed, distinct from those commonly used in research, including the organisation of research team meetings around participatory principles, the active involvement of teachers in designing and employing data collection tools, and in generating protocols associated with videostimulated reflection. We demonstrate how these research tools and processes enhanced collaboration and teacher agency, the trustworthiness of the research findings and teachers' critical reflection on existing practice. We argue that our refined model of participatory action research can inform and support teachers and researchers wishing to bring about transformations in classroom practice, especially in situations analogous to many mathematics classrooms, in which conventional approaches have so far had little impact.

This paper makes a significant contribution to contemporary debates over the direction curriculum reforms should take. It challenges claims that progressive pedagogies can exclude disadvantaged learners from gaining access to powerful knowledge and argues that greater attention needs to be given to learner agency and subject didactics. It reports on the