Exploring, understanding, and problematizing patterns of instructional quality: A study of instructional quality in Finnish-Swedish and Norwegian lower secondary mathematics classrooms

Abstract

This thesis comprises three articles and is situated in the field of cross-national observation research on instructional quality in mathematics education. It investigates patterns of instructional quality in lower secondary mathematics classrooms in Finnish-Swedish and Norwegian contexts (Helsinki and Oslo areas). The overarching research question is: How can patterns of instructional quality be understood through observation systems and teachers’ perspectives? This phenomenon is investigated from three different perspectives; as observed by a standardized observation system (Article Ⅰ); from two Finnish mathematics teachers’ perspectives on their own discourse practices (Article Ⅱ); and from a critical perspective of possible biases in observation systems when applied in and across different classroom contexts (Article Ⅲ). The findings together contribute with knowledge of typical features of mathematics instruction in Helsinki and Oslo contexts as well as how patterns of instructional quality may be understood from the perspectives of teachers and observation systems.