A Conceptual Approach to Teaching Mathematics to Students With Intellectual Disability

Abstract

Swedish compulsory school for students with intellectual disability (ID) has been criticized for focusing on care and not presenting the students with enough knowledge-related challenges. The purpose of this study is to investigate how a conceptually-based mathematics curriculum can be interpreted and constructed for students with ID. A total of 18 mathematics lessons in 6 classes for students with ID were filmed, and the teachers were interviewed in connection with the lessons. A qualitative content analysis approach was used to identify aspects of mathematical competency content and to analyze the teaching. Three major groups of teaching strategies are identified: pedagogical mathematics activities, focusing on students’ perceptions of mathematical content, and encouraging dialogue between students.

Keywords:

• mathematical competence
• intellectual disability
• teaching strategies
• classroom research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 For a further analysis of the MCRF in relation to other frameworks, see Lithner et al. (2010).