The Fabrication of Early Childhood Mathematics and the desired child in Sweden

The study investigates what type of discourses emerge when kindergarten teachers talk about mathematics and young children. The researchers are interested in how these discourses affect kindergarten teachers’ mathematics teaching in kindergarten, who they see as being mathematically competent children, and which children are at risk of being defined as the opposite.

The results show that kindergarten teachers believe that a mathematically competent child is capable of thinking in an abstract manner, can reason and push themselves beyond what is stipulated in the kindergarten curriculum. There is also a distinction between how kindergarten teachers view ethnic Swedish children and immigrant children: The immigrant child is portrayed as a child who needs care and therefore should not be subjected to mathematics education too early. Although the kindergarten teachers talk about the importance of including activities such as drawing, dancing, construction and play in the teaching, it is nevertheless mastery of the verbal codes in the Swedish language that they believe defines who is capable of being a mathematically competent child. Kindergarten teachers therefore tend to expect less from immigrant children and see teaching the Swedish language as the key to participation, access and integration. 

The data material consists of individual semi-structured interviews with ten kindergarten teachers, and 25 hours of observation from four kindergartens in Sweden. In two of the kindergartens, most of the children came from middle-class homes with a Swedish background. In the other two kindergartens, the children experienced poorer socioeconomic circumstances and mainly had an immigrant background.

Delacour, L. & Chronaki, A. (2020). “The Fabrication of Early Childhood Mathematics and the desired child in Sweden”. Philosophy of Mathematics Education Journal, 35:1465-2978.