Students’ participation in mathematics in inclusive settings

The latest international comparative studies have shown that Swedish students’ achievements have increased slightly. However, at the same time, the equity in Swedish mathematics education has decreased, as in the difference between low- and high-achieving students’ attainment (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2019). Since differently achieving students are taught in the same classroom in Sweden, the teacher becomes an important factor in including students in need of special education in mathematics to improve their achievement. Well-known research in mathematics education emphasizes the importance of teachers’ specialized content knowledge when teaching mathematics (e.g. Ball et al., 2008; Rowland, 2013). In addition, results from studies in inclusive education show the importance of pedagogical relational teachership (Ljungblad, 2022), particularly for students in need of special education. By combining these two traditions, something which has rarely been done, new insights into inclusive mathematics education can emerge. In this study, the mathematical classroom is viewed as a social practice aiming to gain more knowledge about inclusive mathematics education. Inclusion can be spatial, social and didactical (Asp-Onsjö, 2006). This study adopts an understanding of students’ mathematical learning in social settings related to didactic alinclusion, as this dimension allows for mathematics teaching that could facilitate learning mathematics together with peers. The research question is: Does the enacted mathematical and relational knowing of teachers enable students to become didactically included in mathematics, and if so, how?