Lärares erfarenheter avÅtgärdsgarantin i matematik:möjligheter att åstadkomma stödinsatser

The following study aims to investigate the experiences of 14 teacherswork in first grade regarding the Swedish educational reform Read, writeand count – a guarantee for early support. The guarantee means, amongother things, that identification of students’ needs and support effortsregarding number sense are mandatory work for teachers. The studyexamines teachers’ possibilities in achieving agency that enabled them toprovide sufficient support within their regular classroom teaching, andthus fulfill the reform’s goals. Teachers’ experiences of support in regularteaching for students who show indications of a lack of number sense wasanalyzed using thematic analyses. The research findings highlight thatwhile the implementation of the reform should guarantee early supportin mathematics, teachers faced critical challenges due to conflicting priorities. These priorities included the need to provide training time forstruggling students versus the necessity of following the approved mathematics curriculum. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that teachers’individual goals also played a significant role in shaping their approachtowards providing early support. The study reveals that teachers’ goalsregarding student participation and ensuring coverage of the centralcontent of the curriculum before national exams in third year limitedtheir ability to fully implement early intervention strategies. Moreover,the study illustrates that teachers’ efforts towards early support mainlyrelied on adapting mathematics textbook content and improving communication with students. Overall, this study highlights the limitations in implementing early support strategies within regular classroomteaching due to conflicting priorities and individual goals of teachers.