Department of Mathematics and Science Education

The present study investigated test responses from 259 immigrant and non-immigrant school year 9 students in Sweden with the focus on how they solved two problems on fractions, one of them halving a fraction, in a test. The authors report three observations. Newly arrived second language immigrants seemed less likely to have the word 'half' in their Swedish mathematical vocabulary. Moreover, second language learners with longer experience of the new language connected the word 'half' with a division by two, but showed mathematical difficulties in correctly applying it to a fraction. A third finding was that the longer the experiences with Swedish school mathematics, the more likely both first and second language learners were to erroneously omit the percentage symbol, when choosing to use percentage representation of the fraction given in the test problem. The authors suggest seeing newly and early arrived second language immigrants as meeting different challenges. The newly arrived second language immigrants may know some mathematical concepts better and Swedish language less. In contrast the opposite seems to hold for second language learners with longer experience of the language of instruction.

In this paper we elaborate on the notion of agency. We relate agency to Skovsmose's and Biesta's frameworks respectively. Both Skovsmose and Biesta are concerned with citizenship education, mathematics education and the purpose of education from a critical position. We explore if and how Skovsmose's and Biesta´s frameworks respectively relate to agency.

Teachers around the world have started teaching programming at the K-9 level, some due to the formal introduction of programming in the national curriculum, others without such pressure and on their own initiative. In this study, we attempted to understand which skillsboth CT-related and generalare developed among pupils in the process of working with programming in schools. To do so, we interviewed 19 Swedish teachers who had been teaching programming for a couple of years on their own initiative. The teachers were selected based on their experience in teaching programming. Our thematic analysis of these interviews shed light on what skills teachers perceive pupils develop when programming. This led us to identify three themes related to CT skills and five themes related to general skills. The CT skills identified corresponded well with and were thus thematically structured according to the dimensions of CT proposed in the framework of Brennan and Resnick, namely computational concepts, computational practices and computational perspectives. In addition to the CT skills, our thematic analysis also resulted in the identification of general skills related to digital competency and 21st century skills, namely cognitive skills and attitudes, language skills, collaborative skills and attitudes and creative problem-solving skills and attitudes.

In 2016 the Swedish fritidshem got its own curriculum where mathematics is formally introduced. The space where students can experience informal forms of mathematics in activities derived out of their own interest risks being slowly transformed into a schoolified form of mathematics, steered by teachers and striving for learning effectiveness. A policy enactment perspective was used to investigate the material, interpretive and discursive dimensions of the enactment process. Based on document analysis, observations and interviews in two cases, tensions between two different and competing discourses were identified: one driven by student’s interests and one driven by teacher’s mathematical agenda. The meaning of fritidshem math will configure in the tensions about what counts as desirable forms of mathematical activity in practice.

This paper draws on data from a first grade multilingual mathematics classroom in Sweden. I explore how students' agency is pronounced in the classroom that actually can be a site where mathematics reform-oriented pedagogy thrives and how the emphasis on language support in such classrooms can support reform-oriented pedagogy. I argue that the emphasis on reform-oriented pedagogy can support the learning of mathematics and a second language, simultaneously. By analysing discursive practices, I show how this supportive relationship operates alongside the ongoing processes of normalisation whereby students' mother tongues continue to be erased or ignored. Keywords Mathematics. Language-oriented. Reform-oriented. Foucault. First grade classroom Due to dramatic increases in immigration, almost a fifth of all students in Swedish compulsory school, speaking more than 100 languages, have a mother-tongue other than Swedish (Skolverket 1 , 2013). However, despite legislation permitting them "to receive support for the development and use of their languages" (Ganuza & Hedman, 2015, p.125), a disproportionately high number fail to meet the national assessment benchmarks that would enable them to progress from compulsory to senior high school (Skolverket, 1997, 2007). In today's Sweden, teachers are expected to support second language learners' acquisition of Swedish through language-orientated teaching in all school subjects (Hajer, 2003; Lindberg, 2009), expectations that presuppose that subject teachers understand the complex relationship between language and learning. In the case of mathematics, language subject teaching (Barwell, 2005) resonates with reform-oriented mathematics teaching, which is characterised by emphases on communication and collaboration (Moschkovich, 1999). In this paper, the first such study in the

This paper draws on data from a first grade multilingual mathematics classroom in Sweden. I explore how students' agency is pronounced in the classroom that actually can be a site where mathematics reform-oriented pedagogy thrives and how the emphasis on language support in such classrooms can support reform-oriented pedagogy. I argue that the emphasis on reform-oriented pedagogy can support the learning of mathematics and a second language, simultaneously. By analysing discursive practices, I show how this supportive relationship operates alongside the ongoing processes of normalisation whereby students' mother tongues continue to be erased or ignored. Keywords Mathematics. Language-oriented. Reform-oriented. Foucault. First grade classroom Due to dramatic increases in immigration, almost a fifth of all students in Swedish compulsory school, speaking more than 100 languages, have a mother-tongue other than Swedish (Skolverket 1 , 2013). However, despite legislation permitting them "to receive support for the development and use of their languages" (Ganuza & Hedman, 2015, p.125), a disproportionately high number fail to meet the national assessment benchmarks that would enable them to progress from compulsory to senior high school (Skolverket, 1997, 2007). In today's Sweden, teachers are expected to support second language learners' acquisition of Swedish through language-orientated teaching in all school subjects (Hajer, 2003; Lindberg, 2009), expectations that presuppose that subject teachers understand the complex relationship between language and learning. In the case of mathematics, language subject teaching (Barwell, 2005) resonates with reform-oriented mathematics teaching, which is characterised by emphases on communication and collaboration (Moschkovich, 1999). In this paper, the first such study in the

Teachers around the world have started teaching programming at the K-9 level, some due to the formal introduction of programming in the national curriculum, others without such pressure and on their own initiative. In this study, we attempted to understand which skillsboth CT-related and generalare developed among pupils in the process of working with programming in schools. To do so, we interviewed 19 Swedish teachers who had been teaching programming for a couple of years on their own initiative. The teachers were selected based on their experience in teaching programming. Our thematic analysis of these interviews shed light on what skills teachers perceive pupils develop when programming. This led us to identify three themes related to CT skills and five themes related to general skills. The CT skills identified corresponded well with and were thus thematically structured according to the dimensions of CT proposed in the framework of Brennan and Resnick, namely computational concepts, computational practices and computational perspectives. In addition to the CT skills, our thematic analysis also resulted in the identification of general skills related to digital competency and 21st century skills, namely cognitive skills and attitudes, language skills, collaborative skills and attitudes and creative problem-solving skills and attitudes.

Explicit language objectives are included in the Swedish national curriculum for mathematics. The curriculum states that students should be given opportunities to develop the ability to formulate problems, use and analyse mathematical concepts and relationships between concepts, show and follow mathematical reasoning, and use mathematical expressions in discussions. Teachers' competence forms a crucial link to bring an intended curriculum to a curriculum in action. This article investigates a professional development program, 'Language in Mathematics', within a national program for mathematics teachers in Sweden that aims at implementing the national curriculum into practice. Two specific aspects are examined: the selection of theoretical notions on language and mathematics and the choice of activities to relate selected theory to practice. From this examination, research on teacher learning in connection to professional development is proposed, which can contribute to a better understanding of teachers' interpretation of integrated approaches to language and mathematics across national contexts.

In this paper we elaborate on the notion of agency. We relate agency to Skovsmose‘s and Biesta‘s frameworks respectively. Both Skovsmose and Biesta are concerned with citizenship education, mathematics education and the purpose of education from a critical position. We explore if and how Skovsmose‘s and Biesta s frameworks respectively relate to agency