A Designs for Learning perspective, with its close attention to the setting and the materiality of communications, is well-suited for research closely connected to the actions taken by professionals and participants. This may be research on others, where the interest is to understand how learning is supported and/or limited in a certain context, while also considering the complexities of that context. There may also be research with others, where the emphasis is on mak-ing changes in practices while investigating these changes, where researchers, professionals, and other participants collaborate. In such collaborations profes-sionals may, for example, be working in schools as teachers and school leaders (i.e., in formal settings), or as staff working in semi-formal settings such as museums (see Chapter 8  by Insulander & Öhman in this volume). Here, we discuss both design research on others and with others, with specific attention given to ethical considerations and aspects. In this chapter we discuss ethical considerations, following the LDS model ( Figure 4.1 ) from left to right; starting with the setting, which is framed by the resources at hand, and the institutional norms and regulations. This section is followed by ethical considerations in relation to the transformation units where interactions take place in different kinds of situations, constituted by transformations within and transductions between modes (e.g., pictures, body movements, speech). After this we address ethical considerations concerning participants’ roles vis-à-vis a Designs for Learning framework.

Matematikundervisning av idag har en påverkan även utanför klassrummets ramar, inte minst genom matematikens relevans inom kultur, ekonomi, politik och i relation till makt. Sociopolitiska perspektiv i matematikdidaktisk forskning ger insikter om hur utbildningen i matematik är social och politisk. Forskning utifrån dessa perspektiv föreslår både kritiska ifrågasättanden och ännu-inte-tänkta möjligheter för innehåll, undervisning, politik och vidare forskning. Denna bok introducerar, för en större svensk publik, de forskningsinriktningar och strategier som sociopolitiska perspektiv har att erbjuda. I boken illustreras detta på flera sätt. Kapitlen beskriver aktuell forskning om matematikutbildningens sociopolitiska utmaningar i flera olika sammanhang, t.ex. klassrum, fritidshem, läroplaner, matematiklärarutbildning och till och med matematikutbildningsforskning. På detta sätt vidgas perspektiven till grupper av människor, institutioner och krafter, vilka utgör ett nätverk för matematikutbildningspraxis. Kapitlen presenterar annorlunda filosofiska och empiriska studier, baserade på teoretiska verktyg från filosofi, samhällsvetenskap och kulturstudier, kritiska studier av utbildning samt sociokulturellt-politiska studier av matematikutbildning. Metodologiska och analytiska strategier som text- och diskursanalys och fallstudier av praktik används. På detta sätt illustreras möjligheter att forska i matematikutbildning utifrån sociopolitiska perspektiv. Kapitlen använder diverse skrivstilar vilka bjuder in läsaren i forskningsvärlden. Därmed får läsaren möta olika sätt att tänka på matematikutbildningens roll i skapandet av det moderna svenska samhället. 

Detta inledande kapitel lyfter fram nya trender inom sociopolitisk forskning i matematikdidaktik. Den matematikundervisning som pågår i klassrum är alltid sammanflätad med olika samhälleliga fenomen, så som social kontext, normer och styrdokument, men också kollegor och media. Centrala problemställningar och forskningslitteratur i de sociopolitiska studierna i matematikdidaktik presenteras. Detta fungerar som en bakgrund för tematiseringen av boken och dess kapitel. 

The aim of this paper is to present critical aspects that were identified when students explored equations as a part-whole structure with negative numbers included. Students in grades 3, 8 and 9 participated in a ”theoretical work”. Learning study was used as a research approach and learning activity theory constituted a guiding principle when designing research lessons. According to the analysis, five critical aspects were identified, regardless of grade. The critical aspects are: there is a relationship between all the numbers in an equation; two parts together equals a whole with the same value; what constitutes the parts and the whole, respectively; the same relationship can be formulated in four different ways; the whole can assume a lower value than the parts.

In this paper we aim to discuss a research framework for analysing assessment in working life. We view assessment as a broad notion, taking place formally, through tests, coursework and the like, and informally through for example feedback during ongoing work. We argue that education, and significantly vocational education, has much to learn from taking knowledge about assessment as part of working life into account.

Assessment in working life is in this paper viewed as a teaching content in vocational education. For students in vocational programmes, part of Swedish upper secondary school, it is highly relevant to learn about how working competence may be evaluated in their future occupations. Moreover, teachers carrying out assessment within the vocational programmes have much to learn from the ways assessment may be ‘done’ in working life. To assess vocational competence, also within vocational education, is different from formal educational assessment, since it is about capturing contextual knowing in action. In these actions, there are different logics (see Ellström, 2010) to pay attention to. One logic is a logic of production, where conformity and regulations are essential, and one is a logic of development, where problem solving and creativity are essential. So far, not much research has focused on assessment in working life in a broad sense, with relevance for vocational education.

Assessment of vocational knowing is a field of research shared by disciplines like education, linguistics, economics and sociology. One theme in the literature addresses assessment for employment. This part of the research field is dominated by economists focusing on management issues, such as tests designed for selection of employees. Another theme is rather new in this field of research; assessment in skills competitions. A third theme is assessment in workplaces. Apart from some studies on assessment of employees’ performances and behaviour, there are few studies (eg. Kvale, 2007; Tanggaard & Elmholt, 2008) on assessment of vocational knowing at work.

When discussing a framework for analysing assessment in working life, we will draw on theoretical considerations and make critical connections to previous research. In our theoretical considerations we incorporate three levels of practice: personal, interpersonal, and community processes (Rogoff, 2008), all in relation to assessment. To further examine aspects of vocational content in assessment, we adopt a framework of praxeology by Chevallard (2006), where praxis corresponds to ‘know-how’ and logos to ‘know-why’.

In this paper we discuss connections between two teaching contents in Swedish upper secondary school programs in vocational education; mathematics and vocational content. Simultaneously, we challenge a dichotomous understanding of theory and practice, while paying an interest in connections between the two. We have adopted the framework of praxeology by Chevallard. Through analysis of empirical examples, we illuminate how, for example, theoretical aspects may derive from both mathematics and vocational content, challenging mathematics as mainly theoretical and vocations as only practical.

On one hand, the Swedish governing discourse on equity in the context of digitizing education portrays modernization, progress and democracy as a foundation in the equity work. On the other hand, in the context of digitized tests, equity is rather framed within a neoliberal logic while related to all individuals’ possibilities of choosing a ‘good life’, and to compete on equal terms. Not all disadvantaged groups are the target, though. It is mainly boys who are supposed be given better grades, and, in addition, students with disabilities who are supposed to (as far as possible) be able to have the opportunity to show their knowledge during the test. Language or socioeconomically diverse settings are not mentioned with regard to digitized national tests.

This article addresses how to distinguish mathematical arguments created during whole class discussions in grades 3-5 in Sweden, while taking a broad range of communicational resources, such as speech, drawings and symbols, into account. We present a step-by-step framework of how to systematically reconstruct mathematical arguments. The framework is developed drawing on Toulmin's model of argumentation and a multimodal approach. When giving account for the framework, we show how various communicational resources convey the mathematical meaning of the arguments created. The framework can be used for further research investigating interaction in classroom settings, for teacher students as a basis for reflection during practicum periods, as well as a lens for teachers in identifying informal and formal mathematical arguments in day-to-day communication in the mathematics classroom.

Background

As part of teachers' everyday classroom assessment practice, feedback can be seen as connected to the formative function of assessment, with the aim of helping students in their learning processes. Much research on teacher feedback focuses precisely on the feedback's formative quality. However, in order to strengthen our understanding about the nature of teacher feedback, we also need to understand more about teachers' rationales for giving feedback to their students, especially in primary school settings.

Purpose

The present study aimed to explore and conceptualise primary school teachers' rationales for giving students feedback.SampleThirteen Swedish primary school teachers (10 women and 3 men) with 4 to 40 years of teaching experience working with students aged 7-9years-old (grades 1-3), participated in the study. An open sampling procedure was adopted to recruit the teachers.

Design and methods

Data were collected using a semi-structured interview approach. We employed a constructivist grounded theory design for the coding and analysis of the transcribed data.

Results

Analysis indicated that two main concerns emerged as regulating teachers' assessment practices. These addressed what the teachers perceived as (1) students' academic needs and (2) students' behavioural and emotional needs. According to the findings, the teachers' rationales for giving students feedback were based on those needs, and dependent on factors such as situation, relationships, time and effort. This resulted in a constant comparison and weighing of different needs by the teachers. Some needs were described as prioritised before others, which caused some rationales to be identified as taking precedence over others.

Discussion and conclusions

Based on a systematic analysis of - and thus grounded in - interview data from primary teachers, the current qualitative study offers a framework for surveying, understanding and discussing teacher feedback. Overall, the study showed how everyday practices of classroom assessment and classroom management overlapped, thus underlining the importance in teacher education of understanding classroom assessment, classroom management and the relationships between the two.

This chapter addresses ways of characterising interfaces between mathematics and the educational subject of construction work in pre-vocational studies. A model is presented, which can be used for teaching and research. It is argued that the interfaces between mathematics and construction work should be viewed as a content area of its own. The authors also point to how the interfaces concern substantially more than viewing mathematics as simply being applied in a workplace practice. It may for example also be the case that mathematics in itself may explain aspects of the subject of construction work.