3.1 Identifying the object of acquisition
The first step for observing evaluative judgement in any IP is to identify the object(s) of
acquisition. In mathematics teacher education practices we have studied, we found that there
was always a tension between at least two such objects: notions of mathematics (M) and
notions of teaching (T). Following the discussion above, this is to be expected: this is likely
in any teacher education context where there are a number of different knowledge discourses
to be acquired.2 The analytic space for identifying the intended objects of acquisition of any
particular ‘evaluative event’ (Davis, 2005) is constituted by recognising aspects of M and T,
and then considering which is primary in the particular event, marking it M or T, and which