Studien undersöker hur matematiska begrepp etableras i diskursen i klassrummet och hur lärare planerar för, iscensätter och bearbetar matematiska begrepp. Studiens syfte är att studera hur lärare hanterar matematiska begrepp i undervisningen ur ett specialpedagogiskt perspektiv. Utifrån studiens ansats väljs två kvalitativa datainsamlingsmetoder. Till detta infogas Selander & Kress (2010) formellt inramad lärsekvens och Hallidays (2004) tre metafunktioner och en ny metafunktion, den institutionell funktion (Boistrup- Björklund, 2010).   Studien visar att procedurkunskap har en stor plats i undervisningen. Lärarna hanterar begrepp i förbifarten och funderar inte på vilken roll de språkliga uttrycken har. Det pågår först och främst två diskurser, den matematiska och den vardagliga. Diskurserna etableras utifrån olika sociala och sociomatematiska normer som styr undervisningen. Traditioner och förväntningar påverkar undervisningen och den påverkan verkar vara starkare än forskningsrön eller nya styrdokument. / The study examines how mathematical concepts established in the discourse in the classroom and how teachers plan for, implements and processes mathematical concepts. The study's purpose is to study how teachers deal with mathematical concepts in teaching from a special education perspective. Based on the study's approach chosen two qualitative data collection methods. To this inserts Selander & Kress´s (2010) formal learning design sequence and Halliday´s (2004), three meta-functions and an institutional function (Boistrup- Björklund, 2010).   The study shows that procedural knowledge has a big place in teaching.  Teachers deal with concepts in passing and not thinking about which part the linguistic expressions have. There are primarily two discourses ongoing, the mathematical and the everyday, the discourses are established based on various social and socio-mathematical norms that effects the teaching. Traditions and expectations affect the teaching and the effect seems to be stronger than research findings or new policy document.

The study aims to describe variation in the expression of students’ mathematical ability and the various ways in which their mathematical aptitude is acknowledged and supported by their teachers, parents and peers in a Swedish context. Ability is defined as a complex of various abilities each of which may be more or less pronounced in a given individual. The study is based on ten case studies of highly able students (ages 6-19). Six of the studies are longitudinal, ranging from three to six years. In order to validate the results of the case studies, two survey studies were carried out involving 180 teachers (preschool to Grade 9 in Swedish compulsory school) and 284 mathematics developers from 229 Swedish municipalities. The survey studies raised questions concerning the teachers’ personal experience of identifying and supporting highly able students, the nature of their everyday teaching, and the support given to able students. The results show that mathematical abilities can take many different forms and there is great need for pedagogical support for this group of students. Since extra resources are rarely available for the benefit of nurturing talent and since there are, as yet, no Swedish national or local policy documents that specifically address the support of talent in students, teachers are on their own in figuring out how to best help able students develop mathematically. The study points to the importance of the social norms that influence the interaction between teacher and student(s): everyday social norms as well as socio-mathematical norms, i.e. norms specific to the subject of mathematics. The latter place considerable demands on the teachers’ mathematical knowledge and competence. The benefits of early interventions, of supportive teaching environments, and of providing the students with challenging tasks and questions are also discussed.