The construction of mathematical knowledge and learning in and through individual education plans
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24834/educare.2015.1.1142Keywords:
assessment, Individual Education Plans, forms of knowledge, mathematics, pedagogic discoursesAbstract
This study, which is grounded in Bernstein’s theories of symbolic power and control in the context of pedagogy, explores how pupils’ learning in mathematics is constructed by a Swedish assessment practice called Individual Education Plans (IEPs). A systematic selection of 233 IEPs from five municipalities constitutes the empirical basis for the study. The results show that the content of IEPs primarily stresses the mastery of elementary skills, with an emphasis on automatization and routinization skills. In addition, regulative discourses about how to perform while learning mathematics are emphasized, especially for boys. The study also shows that IEPs, as they appear in the study, do not reflect the aims expressed in the current curriculum; on the contrary, the practice of using IEPs tends to reproduce a traditional discourse on the content of mathematics and how mathematics should be taught.
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