Teachers’ Knowledge about Language in Mathematics Professional Development Courses : From an Intended Curriculum to a Curriculum in Action

摘要

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