Lgr11 – stöd eller begränsning? : Lärares röster om styrdokument och reformens påverkan på deras matematikundervisning

Sammanfattning: This thesis examines teachers’ voices on the latest curriculum reform and how teachers experience the impact of the reform on their teaching. The aim of this study is to contribute to knowledge about the conditions of the implementation of a new reform and how the reform controls and empowers teachers’ teaching. I examine the issue using the concepts from curriculum theory and implementation theory as well as visible and invisible pedagogy. Primary school teachers, Grades 1-3 (n=224) within an entire municipality responded to an extensive questionnaire concerning their relation to the reform. The questionnaire was developed from qualitative interviews and questionnaires with open questions. The new curriculum reform tends towards increased control but the results show that the majority of teachers consider both the curriculum and the national examinations for Grade 3 as a support in their teaching and assessment. Most teachers express that the recent curriculum increases their professionalism. Yet there is a tension between positive and negative experiences of the reform, as some teachers express that the new curriculum and the national tests limit their professional freedom while other teachers express that they would like even more detailed support and guidance. There are also teachers who think it is too early to introduce goals, in the form of knowledge requirements and national tests, because it violates the students’ right to develop at their own pace based on their prerequisites. Further, most teachers in the study state that they have been affected by the goals and the national tests, but at a school level a common plan in mathematics and routines to discuss the goals of mathematics education is often lacking. The study also shows that national tests are not used in order to improve the mathematics results of the whole school. The factor analysis shows that there are differences between teachers’ voices depending on their age, their teaching experience, and if they are graduated before or after the reform of 1994. The different expressions can be linked to teachers’ voices of teacher professionalism, of student learning and maturity. The results of the study are of interest for various actors at different educational levels like politicians, curriculum authors and principals. By taking part of the study they have the opportunity to gain more knowledge of how to create good conditions to support teachers to enact the curriculum in their classrooms.