Amalie Sødal

• Lien, Beate; Sødal, Amalie; Reinhardtsen, Jorunn & Carlsen, Martin (2025). Pre-service teachers’ developing professional identity as mathematics teachers – a theoretical perspective. In Bosch, Marianna; Bolondi, Giorgio; Carreira, Susana; Spagnolo, Camilla & Gaidoschik, Michael (Ed.), Proceedings of the Fourteenth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME14), Free University of Bozen-Bolzano; ERME, Feb 2025, Bozen-Bolzano, Italy.. European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. ISSN 9791221086553. p. 2816–2823. doi: https:/hal.science/hal-05334902/. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this paper we will launch the theoretical perspective Patterns of Participation as a lens to study pre-service teachers’ developing professional identity as secondary mathematics teachers, through the notions of being, becoming, and belonging. It is documented in the research literature that pre-service teachers experience a gap between the university and the school as learning contexts. In our study we address tensions that manifest themselves in the development of professional identity, as the pre-service teachers participate in these two learning contexts. Furthermore, we introduce the idea of a resource bank, theorised as a boundary object between these contexts. Drawing on an example from another study, we argue that by reflecting on the content of a resource bank, one pre-service teacher testifies her being, becoming and belonging.

• Sødal, Amalie (2025). A framework for conceptualising pre-service mathematics teachers’ learning across the contexts of coursework and school placement. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education. ISSN 1386-4416. p. 1–22. doi: 10.1007/s10857-025-09714-1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Pre-service mathematics teachers take on two roles with sometimes contrasting expectations in relation to teaching mathematics: being students and novice teachers transitioning between the practice of university and the practice of schools. Integrating and learning from these two practices in mathematics teacher education is challenging. In this paper, a framework for conceptualising pre-service mathematics teachers’ learning across contexts is presented. The framework combines the documentational approach to didactics and Valsiner’s zone theory. Further, the applicability of the framework is illustrated through the case of one pre-service mathematics teacher, Josefine. It is argued that the analytical framework can expose how Josefine’s interaction with resources for teaching mathematics is influenced by the different contexts (university and school) she is part of and further, how she learns from and develops her resources from experiences across contexts. Moreover, the framework serves to elaborate the role of agency in the development of Josefine’s practice.

• Johnson, Heather Lynn; Lensing, Felix; Zaragoza, Pedro Nicolás & Sødal, Amalie (2024). Thematic Working Group on Theoretical Perspectives and Approaches in Mathematics Education, TWG17. EMS MAGAZINE. ISSN 2747-7908. doi: 10.4171/MAG/221. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We continue the initiative of introducing the CERME Thematic Working Groups, which we began in the September 2017 issue, focusing on ways in which European research in the field of mathematics education may be interesting or relevant for people working in pure and applied mathematics. Our aim is to disseminate developments in mathematics education research discussed at CERMEs and enrich the ERME community with new participants, who may benefit from hearing about research methods and findings and contribute to future CERMEs.

• Sødal, Amalie (2023). Networking the documentational approach and Valsiner's zone theory. In Drijvers, Paul; Csapodi, Csaba; Palmer, Hanna; Gosztonyi, Katalin & Kónya, Eszter (Ed.), Proceedings of the thirteenth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME13). European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. ISSN 9789637031045. p. 3152–3159. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The documentational approach to didactics (DAD) and Valsiner’s zone theory are combined to increase explanatory power when exploring pre-service teachers’ professional development. The strategy of combining is applied, forging a model that serves to theorise and support a resource approach to mathematics teacher education. DAD delineates the relationship between pre-service mathematics teachers and resources through the concept of documentational genesis. The context and its influence on the documentational genesis is rendered in terms of the zone of free movement and the zone of promoted action. Thus, the theoretical framework presented provides a tool to discern and a language to discuss pre-service teachers’ professional development in interaction with resources for teaching mathematics. The case of Oda provides an example that illustrates how tension in her zone system influences her interaction with resources and her professional development.

• Sødal, Amalie (2022). A resource approach to mathematics teacher education. In Hodgen, Jeremy; Geraniou, Eirini; Bolondi, Giorgio; Feretti, Federica & Ferretti, Federica (Ed.), Proceedings of the 12th Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME12). European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. ISSN 9791221025378. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The relation between pre-service teacher education and the day-to-day practice of mathematics teachers in schools is a recurring topic in research on teacher education. Furthermore, the Norwegian teacher education programme has been criticised for polarity between theory and praxis. The following pilot study investigates what aspects of working with resources in university coursework pre-service mathematics teachers perceive as valuable preparation for teaching mathematics. I found that university coursework can alleviate the gap between theory and praxis through resources for teaching mathematics. Working with resources can provide learning opportunities that pre-service mathematics teachers experience as practical and useful.

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• Sødal, Amalie (2025). A Resource Approach to Mathematics Teacher Education. Universitetet i Agder. ISSN 9788284272412. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The research presented in this dissertation addresses the disconnect between university coursework and school placement, as experienced by pre-service mathematics teachers (PSTs). In their educational trajectory, PSTs assume two roles with contrasting ‘scripts’ (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999): the role of being students themselves and the role of being (novice) teachers (Sødal, 2023, p. 2). As the PSTs transition between the contexts of university coursework and school placement, they participate in practices with different and sometimes contrasting expectations for and approaches to teaching mathematics (Goos, 2009). Concurrently, the PSTs are expected to learn from consolidating the experiences from university coursework and school placement. PSTs themselves, however, tend to view the two experiences as separate from each other and regard practical experiences as superior to theoretical aspects in their teacher education (Brekke & Leikvoll Eide, 2021; Solomon et al., 2017; Sødal, 2022). Moreover, Norwegian teacher education has been criticised for polarity between theory and praxis and there is a call for teacher education programmes to better prepare PSTs for the teaching profession (Mosvold et al., 2018). This study reports on the process of developing a Resource Bank for teaching mathematics for seven PSTs. The inquiry explores in what ways a Resource Bank for teaching mathematics can mediate between the PSTs’ experiences in coursework and school placement, thereby breaching the boundary (Sødal, 2023) between the two sites and supporting the PSTs’ learning across contexts. The dissertation consists of four papers, each addressing the following four research questions: 1. What aspects of working with resources in university coursework do pre-service mathematics teachers accentuate as beneficial in preparing them for teaching mathematics in elementary school? 2. In what ways can a networked understanding support the exploration of the potential of a Resource Bank for teaching mathematics? 3. How does the proposed analytical framework composed of DAD and Valsiner’s zone theory elucidate how the RB mediates the PSTs’ learning as they move between university coursework and school placement? 4. In what ways does the documentational genesis of a Resource Bank for teaching mathematics support pre-service mathematics teachers in breaching the boundary between experiences in university coursework and school placement? A theoretical framework for studying the Resource Bank has been developed through networking the documentational approach to didactics (Gueudet & Trouche, 2009) and Valsiner’s zone theory (Valsiner, 1997). By applying the strategy of ‘combining’ (Prediger et al., 2008), the framework provided constructs that facilitated the analysis of the PSTs’ interaction with the Resource Bank through different contexts. The findings illustrate how a Resource Bank for teaching mathematics can mediate between university-based experiences and school-based experiences for PSTs. Three mediating properties of the Resource Bank have been highlighted: 1. The RB mediates between the PSTs and their own schemes (for teaching mathematics) 2. The RB mediates between coursework and school placement when schemes for teaching mathematics are tested and revised 3. The RB mediates between theoretical and practical aspects of teaching mathematics through entry-slips (Sødal, 2024, p. 16) Thus, it is concluded that a Resource Bank for teaching mathematics can breach the boundary between the two sites and support PSTs’ learning across contexts.

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