Pre-primary school teachers’ approaches to mathematics education in Finland

The purpose of this small-scale study is to examine Finnish pre-primary teachers’ approaches to mathematics education. Qualitative analyses from six indepth interviews reveal different strategies and goals. The teachers describe themselves as the facilitating participant, express that mathematics should be framed in playful settings, and assume that it is to be learnt indirectly. The study discerns different pedagogical goals for mathematics education, such as working on counting procedures, preparing for the next school level, building for a better future, and teaching for mathematical literacy. These constitute the teachers’ pedagogical approaches to early mathematics education. Context is experienced as influencing their practice, together with an overall aim to foster a positive attitude towards mathematics. This is discussed in relation to the teachers

Tanssin mahdollisuudet aivoverenkiertohäiriön kuntoutuksessa : kirjallisuuskatsaus

Aivoverenkiertohäiriöön (AVH) sairastuu Suomessa joka kuudes ihminen, ja se on kolmanneksi yleisin kuolinsyy. AVH voi aiheuttaa muutoksia fyysisessä, psyykkisessä ja sosiaalisessa toimintakyvyssä. Kaikkiin toimintakyvyn häiriöihin voi vaikuttaa kuntoutuksella: keskeisessä osassa aivohalvauksen aktiivista kuntoutusta on liikuntahoito. Tässä opinnäytetyössä selvitettiin tanssin vaikutuksia AVH-kuntoutujiin kirjallisuuskatsauksen avulla. Työn avulla koottiin myös tanssinopettajille ja tanssin kentällä vaikuttaville tietoa kohderyhmälle soveltuvasta tanssinopetuksesta. Opinnäytetyön tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin systemoitua kirjallisuuskatsausta. Aineisto haettiin systemaattisesti PubMed-, Cinahl- ja Arsca-tietokannoista. Mukaan valikoitui 11 hakukriteerit täyttävää tutkimusartikkelia. Aineiston analysoinnin ja järjestämisen apuvälineenä käytettiin sisällönanalyysiä. Tutkimustuloksista ilmeni tanssin olevan soveltuva AVH-kuntoutujille: se edistää psykologista, kognitiivista ja fyysistä toimintakykyä. Tulokset puhuivat sen puolesta, että tanssi-interventio tukee ja kehittää suhdetta omaan muuttuneeseen kehoon ja itsepystyvyyteen sekä mahdollistaa sosiaalisia suhteita. Lisäksi se kohentaa mielialaa. Tanssi edistää yleisiä neurologisen kuntoutuksen tavoitteita, kuten kävelyä, tasapainoa ja liikkuvuutta. Tämä kirjallisuuskatsaus ehdottaa, että samalla, kun fyysisessä, psykologisessa ja kognitiivisessa toimintakyvyssä saavutetaan edistystä, myös masentuneisuus lievenee ja osallistuvuus kuntoutukseen voi kasvaa. Nämä tekijät voivat puhua sen puolesta, että tanssi voisi vastata uuden terapiamuodon tarpeeseen neurologisessa kuntoutuksessa

Single unit counting – An impediment for arithmetic learning

In this paper we direct attention to the single unit counting strategy that is observed to be limiting students’ opportunities to develop their arithmetic skills. We describe what impediments single unit counting may entail when encountering novel subtraction tasks, and how these impediments can be explained. From a sample of 121 interviews of students aged 7-8 we have chosen nine who were using single unit counting as their dominating arithmetic strategy. An analysis based on variation theory reveals that the impediments are related to the students not experiencing numbers as composed units and thereby lack in discerning number relations necessary to handle multi-digit subtraction. Educational implications are discussed grounded in the theoretically driven findings.This work was supported by the Swedish Institute for Educational Research [Grant number 2018-00038]

Research on early childhood mathematics teaching and learning

publishedVersionPaid Open Acces

Om nödvändigheten av undervisning i förskolan – Exemplet matematik

Artikeln diskuterar lärande – undervisning – läroplansmål i svensk förskola, med utgångspunkt i revideringen av läroplanen för förskolan och rapporter som kritiserar förskolans bristande måluppfyllelse. Syftet är att på vetenskaplig grund problematisera undervisning och måluppfyllelse i förskolan med avseende på matematiklärande utifrån utvecklingspedagogiskt och variationsteoretiskt perspektiv. Med stöd i mångårig praktiknära förskoleforskning växer ett komplex fram i vår diskussion om förskolans uppdrag att stötta alla barns lärande där i synnerhet måluppfyllelse inte kan mätas som något externt, utan måste ses i relation till varje barns erfarenheter och förmågor. Kritiskt för förskolans måluppfyllelse ter sig förskollärares förmåga att tillämpa de teoretiska perspektiven som stöd för sådana didaktiska val förskolläraren behöver göra för att i sin undervisning främja barns lärande av specifika innehåll såsom matematik

Teaching and learning addition and subtraction bridging through ten using a structural approach

An eight-month-long intervention based on the idea of using a structural approach to addition and subtraction, and particularly bridging through ten, was implemented in Swedish Grade 1. A goal was that at the end of Grade 1, students would solve tasks like 15–7= using part-whole relations of numbers. In this paper, we report on learning outcomes from task-based interviews with intervention and control groups before, immediately after and one year after the intervention, to investigate long-term effects and whether students used a structural approach when solving tasks in Grade 2. Results show that students in the intervention group increased their learning outcomes the most and to a larger extent solved tasks in higher number ranges using a structural approach.This work was supported by the Swedish Institute for Educational Research [Grant number 2018-00038]

Play-Responsive Teaching in Early Childhood Education

This open access book develops a theoretical concept of teaching that is relevant to early childhood education, and based on children’s learning and development through play. It discusses theoretical premises and research on playing and learning, and proposes the development of play-responsive didaktik. It examines the processes and products of learning and development, teaching and its phylogenetic and ontogenetic development, as well as the ‘what’ of learning and didaktik. Next, it explores the actions, objects and meaning of play and provides insight into the diversity of beliefs about the practices of play. The book presents ideas on how combined research and development projects can be carried out, providing incentive and a model for practice development and research. The second part of the book consists of empirical studies on teacher’s playing skills and examples of play with very young as well as older children

Low but contrasting neutral genetic differentiation shaped by winter temperature in European great tits

Gene flow is usually thought to reduce genetic divergence and impede local adaptation by homogenising gene pools between populations. However, evidence for local adaptation and phenotypic differentiation in highly mobile species, experiencing high levels of gene flow, is emerging. Assessing population genetic structure at different spatial scales is thus a crucial step towards understanding mechanisms underlying intraspecific differentiation and diversification. Here, we studied the population genetic structure of a highly mobile species – the great tit Parus major – at different spatial scales. We analysed 884 individuals from 30 sites across Europe including 10 close-by sites (< 50 km), using 22 microsatellite markers. Overall we found a low but significant genetic differentiation among sites (FST = 0.008). Genetic differentiation was higher, and genetic diversity lower, in south-western Europe. These regional differences were statistically best explained by winter temperature. Overall, our results suggest that great tits form a single patchy metapopulation across Europe, in which genetic differentiation is independent of geographical distance and gene flow may be regulated by environmental factors via movements related to winter severity. This might have important implications for the evolutionary trajectories of sub-populations, especially in the context of climate change, and calls for future investigations of local differences in costs and benefits of philopatry at large scales