I identify a recent trend in school mathematics as well as in some of the research literature in mathematics education: an emphasis on creative uses of mathematics and an increased emphasis on verbalizations, reasoning and conceptualization as opposed to numerical and computational skills. With tools provided by a qualitative textual analysis of several Swedish curricula from the past from which I trace a shift of focus from the classical towards the conceptual aspects of mathematical knowledge, I examine the common research framework for discussing mathematical knowledge in terms of the procedural and the conceptual. I investigate whether the shift towards a conceptual approach to mathematical knowledge has occurred and how this presumed shift reveals itself. A close reading and comparison of the historical guidance documents' purpose descriptions and grading criteria concerning the mathematics subject is carried out. Commentary materials for the various course plans are examined. Here I conclude that a shift has occurred during the last decades in the mathematics curricula that may have severely affected the mathematical education in schools. I argue that this shift needs to be acknowledged in order to halt a tendency that seems to gravitate towards a decreasing mathematical competency among the Swedish students.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-214478 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Fodorpataki, László |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik och didaktik |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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