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A research-based teacher education rests on research on the practices of teacher education. We undertook a survey of the opportunities to learn mathematics pedagogy and to teach mathematics perceived by students in their last year of teacher education. Questionnaires were distributed to 753 students graduating in June 2020 from 13 Swedish universities, and the response rate was 11.2%. Overall, new graduates perceived good opportunities to learn mathematics pedagogy, but there were substantial variations in opportunities to learn specific competencies of teaching, such as analysing learners’ answers or leading a mathematical discussion. A similar unevenness in perceived opportunities to learn from the practicum experience was found. These results point to less-than-optimal opportunities to learn core practices of mathematics teaching. We recommend that institutions take a more systematic approach to programme coverage, and to create opportunities to use theory/research to deconstruct practice and to inform rehearsing ‘approximations of practice’ in campus-based activities. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

In this case study, we follow the career of one student teacher (Ellen) from her pre-service training to her first year as a mathematics teacher. As part of a research project about what it means to become a mathematics teacher, the aim of the study was to gain insight into the development of formative assessment competence. To accomplish this, we used data from video-recorded lessons and audio-recorded conversations to depict changes in classroom practice and reflections on that practice during the study. Our findings show that Ellen made incremental changes in her classroom practice and that these had an impact on classroom interaction, formative assessment processes, and student involvement in those processes. Corresponding changes were identified in Ellen’s reflections, which also indicated that she increased her insight into formative assessment. We discuss our findings in relation both to what it means to become a mathematics teacher and to the development of formative assessment competence. 

Despite the ever-increasing number of online professional development (OPD) courses, few studies have examined online education for mathematics teachers. This article reports on a case study of discourses in an OPD course for mathematics teachers concerning the convergence and influence of discourses in course seminar discussions and in mathematics teaching in school when course participants are given the task of translating their insights into actual teaching, with a focus on the participants’ discussions of their own and one another’s video-recorded lessons. The analysis shows that there is a convergence of discourses in the seminars and in the school context related to a focus on concepts and everyday life connections. However, the study also suggests that there is a risk of students remaining outside in an ”everyday discourse”, in which knowledge of mathematics might be useful, but mathematics is discussed in imprecise and simplified terms.

Different forms of professional development online are becoming increasingly common for teachers and the aim of the thesis is to contribute knowledge about online professional development for mathematics teachers and the relationship between professional development, educational policy, and mathematics teaching practice. In the thesis, professional development refers to organized professional development in terms of university courses.

The thesis consists of four studies, each of which has been presented in the form of an article. The four studies together explore transnational and national policy discourses, meaning-making activities that can be distinguished in online professional development, discourses pertaining to mathematics teaching in the classroom and in the subsequent seminar discussions in the course, and teachers’ experience of professional development online. The different arenas have been explored using the concept of discourse with reference to Fairclough, Gee, and Sfard. The term ”discourse” refers primarily to communication and language in use.

The result of the studies indicates that the participants have not been offered enough opportunities to reflect on how or whether the use of several concepts and everyday life connections really deepened the students’ understanding of the mathematical content. Moreover, the analysis of the interviews with the participants shows that it was difficult for them to deepen their reflections in the synchronous communication online. There is a lack of reciprocal participation and reflection in the conversation and it is hard for the participants to get an idea of how the others respond to their messages. When a participant has completed his or her message the next speaker continues with a new message and as a result, the communication often takes a new direction instead of allowing in-depth reflection.

There is increasing interest in the provision of online professional development (OPD) for teachers. This case study contributes to the field of research on professional development in the context of activities and discourses relating to mathematics teachers’ synchronous oral communication online. The purpose of this article is to explore the activities on offer in this communication and to identify the discourses that mathematics teachers may create in their meaning-making activities. An analysis of an online community in the form of a professional development course for mathematics teachers has, therefore, been conducted. The analysis shows that there is a lack of reciprocal participation and a shortcoming in creating a reflective learning environment, which can probably be partly explained by the specific mode of digital conversation. The discourses created by the mathematics teachers in their meaning-making activities focused mainly on sharing experiences about the teaching of mathematics.