What is Sweden’s mathematics teaching pedagogy?

 

Sweden has less of a sociocultural approach, or social learning, than do many other countries. They are even at a point where “results from the Swedish national evaluations suggest that conceptualisation of the relationship between teachers, students, and content is typically operationalized into classroom practice by students working individually and the teacher circulating in the classroom. Such an operationalism does not harmonise with dominant research initiatives” (Hemmi, 2015, p. 192). By teaching in this style, teachers are establishing themselves as available and responsive to their students needs, but they are also losing out on the beneficial collaborative and social component of learning.

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How does Sweden differ from Finland in early mathematics pedagogy?

 

Many of the Nordic countries, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, have similar theories in regards to teaching. It is the subtle differences that define them individually. Sweden and Finland are actually quite different and Sweden performs much lower on national comparisons. Sweden has the lowest PISA and TIMSS scores of the Nordic countries.

 

Sweden and Teachers

 

Sweden has less of an emphasis on teachers and their importance in its culture. Unlike Finland, in Sweden teacher licensure is not at the Master’s level. Sweden has focused most of its educational reform on teachers, even moving licensure so that teachers planning to teach preschool have different licensure and requirements then teachers teaching Kindergarten through 3rd. Reform in response to lower/average international comparison scores has included a move towards “stressing the teachers’ knowledge as the main explanation of and solution to students’ decreasing mathematical knowledge in TIMSS and PISA is visible not only in [data] but also in the political debates” (Hemmi, 2015, p. 193).

 

Sweden also has a system where the teacher has a more passive role in the classroom. The teacher moves from student to student, lending assistance, because students are doing work the majority of the time. This is a system where the teacher leads the introduction, allows students to work, and than concludes the lesson. With this technique of teaching,“the teacher is passive in terms of presenting mathematical ideas, engaging in formative assessment, orchestrating whole-class discussions or directing group work” (Hemmi, 2015, p. 193). In addition, teacher educator programs do not give teachers a certain pedagogy or method to follow, instead expecting prospective teachers to make decisions most beneficial to their students and to be responsive and available to students.