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In this paper, we explore Norwegian teachers’ perspectives on inclusive teaching practices in the mathematics classroom, defined as practices which maximise every pupil’s potential regardless of prior attainment. As previous research suggests, both mathematics teachers’ perspectives in general and the conceptualisation of inclusion, inclusive education, and inclusive practices are culturally situated, varying significantly across countries and educational systems. We draw on data from a large project in Norway focusing on the use of grouping by attainment and its relation to policy and pedagogical practices around inclusion in mathematics. Participants were 13 primary and lower-secondary mathematics teachers from six schools in the Oslo area. Analysis of semi-structured interviews focusing on strategies for inclusion of all pupils in mathematics classrooms reveals the cultural particularities of mathematics teachers’ perspectives on inclusive practices, highlighting the value of similar investigations in other cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusive teaching practices can be characterized as recurrent ways how teachers work with their students' diverse abilities, but how exactly are they enacted in subject matter classrooms? The paper proposes a conceptual framework to unpack inclusive practices according to the student ability to which they refer, in five typical jobs for teachers: (a) identifying the demands for the ability, (b) differentiating learning goals, (c) compensating for low abilities, (d) enhancing abilities, and (e) addressing the abilities in joint learning. The proposed job-ability framework for inclusive teaching practices is substantiated in a video study of 25 mathematics lessons on percentages with the same curriculum material. In total, rather than 50, 133 different inclusive teaching practices were identified in 3862 sequences and structured into 20 cells. They address four abilities (from most often to least often): (1) selective attention/working memory, (2) mathematical pre-knowledge, (3) language proficiency, and (4) metacognitive regulation. The large variance of enacted practices identified within and between lessons calls for professional development that elicits, leverages, and extends the repertoire of practices. While the reported frequencies are specific to the chosen teaching unit, the job-ability framework can be transferred to other subject-matter classrooms and used in professional development programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engaging high school students experiencing a mild to moderate Intellectual Disability (ID) in conversations about their math learning experiences can provide valuable insights for enhancing inclusive classroom teaching and learning. This paper reports on the pilot study of a broader research project that focuses on the voice of high school students experiencing ID in relation to their mathematics education. The study aims to analyse students’ experiences and perspectives on how they are taught mathematics based upon direct input from the students themselves.This research is significant because students experiencing ID have not been provided with the same opportunities to contribute to their learning as most other education stakeholders (parents, school leaders, teachers, and other student groups). This discrepancy is exemplified by the exclusion of students with ID from the descriptions of academic success in the NSW Curriculum Review (2020).The current research study addresses an important gap by acknowledging that students with ID have been underrepresented in the collection of student voices recognised in education. The study confirms that students with ID can actively participate in discussions about their learning experiences, offering unique and insightful recommendations for improving how mathematics is taught to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While international research has demonstrated that ability grouping is inequitable, Australian research has often overlooked equity concerns, predominantly focusing on studying the benefits of grouping for students perceived to have high ability, especially in mathematics. This paper investigates the effect that mathematics ability grouping has on senior secondary mathematics participation for low and middle grouped students in New South Wales, Australia. We drew on interviews about mathematics participation with 85 students and 22 mathematics teachers from 11 government high schools. Our thematic analysis of these data identified that secondary school grouping practices often serve to entrench student interest and/or performance from primary school. This has consequences for many students, with a differentiated curriculum in Years 9 and 10 precluding low and middle grouped students from participating in high-level mathematics when they reach senior secondary school. These findings raise serious equity questions about the current push in Australia for universities to re-introduce high-level mathematics as a prerequisite to entering certain degrees. We argue that stakeholders need greater awareness of the consequences of ability grouping and that those seeking to lift post-compulsory mathematics participation should be targeting primary and early secondary school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding learning disabilities (LDs) as constructed through multiple cultural practices including discourse, this paper focuses on a Latino middle school student with a LD named Elijah. This study documents both the discourses and practices used to position Elijah as a mathematics learner, as well as his use of similar discourses as he constructs a complex set of self-understandings as a mathematics learner. Elijah is positioned by discourses that prioritise speed as an indicator of mathematical ability, as well as discourses that construct students with LD as having both intelligence and differences such as processing speed. An analysis of interview and observational data suggests that Elijah constructed a unique set of self-understandings as a mathematics learner. Like his sixth-grade special education teacher, Elijah seems to differentiate between knowledge and the performance of knowledge in school. He created a unique identity as both ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ in mathematics, rejecting the binary found in many mathematics classrooms. These findings suggest that multiple discourses circulate in schools about ability and disability in mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Engaging Aboriginal learners in the school curriculum can be quite a challenge given issues of cultural and linguistic differences. Even more so, these differences can be expanded when the students are in their adolescence. Creating learning environments that engage learners, while providing deep learning opportunities, is one of the biggest challenges for teachers in remote communities. This paper reports on a reform initiative that centred on the use of a digital game, Guitar Heroes, in a remote Aboriginal school. It was found that the digital media provided teachers with opportunities for new learning spaces and resulted in additional unintended learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many students are unsuccessful in the study of school mathematics, not because of some innate ability, but because of pedagogical practices. Bernstein (1996) has argued that pedagogy serves as a mechanism for cultural reproduction, so that for those students whose cultures are different from that represented in and through pedagogy, the task of constructing school mathematics is made more difficult. The paper explores the ways in which a teacher changes the pedagogic relay in order to be more inclusive of her students. Her practice is informed by understanding the ways in which pedagogy is a subtle tool for marginalization in mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is work in progress on the integration of two epistemological theories to explore the transformational process of further education for women returning to study mathematics in Melbourne, Australia. In this context, the literature reports that women commonly have a perceived need for procedural over relational understanding consistent with their belief that mathematics is absolute and infallible. The teaching philosophy adopted to shift this orientation usually draws on and values the women's own experiences and promotes a collaborative classroom environment. While success stories in these teaching contexts highlight the increased confidence of women, the nature of their epistemological assumptions and whether these shift to promote more complex ways of mathematical knowing have received little attention. The two epistemological models of Baxter Magolda (1992) and Belenky et al. (1997) have been tentatively integrated for the purpose of providing an epistemological framework to analyse the experiences of women in the further education sector returning to study mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]