Linn Flaten

• Flaten, Linn & Sjaastad, Jørgen (2026). From theories about playful learning to classroom practice: Directions for future research. In Mosvold, Reidar; Fauskanger, Janne; Ferretti, Federica & Vondrova, Nada (Ed.), Proceedings of the Nineteenth ERME topic conference : Connecting the learning of mathematics teaching to practice : 4–7 February 2026 in Prague, Czech Republic. European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. ISSN 9788076036734. p. 34–41. doi: https:/hal.science/hal-05463964v1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this theoretical paper, we draw on existing research to explore how playful learning, specifically guided play, can be integrated into Norwegian lower primary school mathematics education. Our examination of theory and research highlights multifaceted obstacles that hinder full realisation: teachers’ uncertainty regarding their evolving role, the lack of practical implementation guidance, curriculum ambiguities, and policy pressures towards standardised testing. Explicit guidance for implementing efficient, curriculum-intended playful learning is unavailable to Norwegian teachers. Countering perceived practical constraints, we provide directions for future research. These include the need for a framework detailing practical examples of playful learning and mathematisation for educators and policymakers, advocating for future research-practice partnerships, and embedding student-centred teaching like guided play in pre-service and in-service teacher education.

• Flaten, Linn (2026). Second graders’ multimodal reasoning in playful inquiry-based mathematics activities. LUMAT: International Journal on Math, Science and Technology Education. 14(2), p. 1–24. doi: 10.31129/lumat.14.2.2751. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This qualitative study aims to provide insights into lower primary students’ multimodal reasoning from a sociocultural perspective, examining their use of diverse semiotic means of objectification. The pedagogical approach of playful learning was combined with an inquiry approach to engage groups of seven-year-olds in mathematical activities designed collaboratively with participating teachers. Video recordings were generated and transcribed, focusing on participants’ dialogue and actions, and analysed using a reflexive thematic approach. The study shows that the second graders’ multimodal reasoning was characterised by the integration of reasoning words and deixis in speech, synchronised with gestures and the use of artefacts during interactions with peers and the teacher. These three semiotic means emerged as the most prominent cultural tools employed by the students to direct attention, establish shared meanings, and actualise arithmetic knowledge when solving the initial problem and extending it through their own elaborations. The teacher’s balanced involvement supported the reasoning process by responding to the students’ problem expansions and fostering a sense of autonomy in decision-making. Implications are drawn regarding the teacher’s role in guided play.

• Flaten, Linn (2025). Second graders’ problem solving in a playful inquiry-based mathematics activity. NOMAD – Nordisk matematikkdidaktikk. ISSN 1104-2176. 30(3), p. 25–47. doi: 10.7146/nomad.v30i3.157446. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study investigates second graders’ problem-solving process within a playful inquiry-based context by drawing on previous research on problem solving and a sociocultural theory specific for mathematics education, the theory of objectification. Inspired by design research, a playful inquiry-based mathematics activity was co-designed with two teachers and applied in small groups. With a focus on dialogue and actions, qualitative data was complemented with a quantification of the children’s use of strategies. The study shows how the second graders were provided with opportunities to practice their problem-solving abilities through a process characterised by the development of and advancement in the students’ use of strategies differentiated into four levels.

• Flaten, Linn (2025). Seven-year-old children’s learning opportunities when solving problems in a playful inquiry-based mathematics activity. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal. ISSN 1350-293X. 34(1), p. 36–52. doi: 10.1080/1350293X.2025.2484240. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The study takes a cultural-historical perspective to document what lower primary children might take from engaging in mathematical problem-solving processes within the context of a playful inquiry-based mathematics activity. Through a detailed analysis of the interaction between the children and the teacher, the study demonstrates how the seven-year-old children actively participated and engaged with the mathematical concepts when solving mathematical problems within a playful inquiry-based context. Such participation provided valuable learning opportunities for the children to actualise arithmetic knowledge, e.g. of parity and place value, to collaborate and refute each other, and to use language and concepts as they worked through tensions, changed their participation and co-positioned themselves in the process of solving mathematical problems. Insights into the important role of the teacher and how teachers may engage with children in child-centred teaching in lower primary school are also provided.

• Flaten, Linn (2022). The construct of playful learning in primary mathematics: A literature overview. 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

  This literature overview aims to define playful learning (PL) in primary mathematics education (ME). When reading previous research literature, I discovered that early years ME researchers often do not define PL but view PL situations regarding teaching opportunities by stating what children learn, such as dealing with counting, operations on numbers, shape, and measuring (Ginsburg, 2006), geometrical thinking (Clements & Sarama, 2014), classification, seriation, conservation, one-to-one correspondence, estimating, quantitative concepts, number words, space-time orientations (van Oers, 1996) to name a few. Of course, what pupils may learn through play is highly important, as education has a learning perspective. However, I argue that PL does not depend on the specific mathematical content. In this literature overview, a total of 2633 studies were screened before reading 61 studies in more detail. When scrutinising the resulting 13 studies and identifying the ME researchers’ common features of PL, my argumentation contrasts with the argument of Brooker et al. (2014), who concludes that a consensus on the definition of PL in early childhood never will be reached. Also, I argue that researchers studying the effectiveness of a PL approach and what mathematical content pupils learn when participating in PL situations could benefit from a definition of what constitutes PL in mathematics in the first place. Therefore, next, I draw on previous research providing insights into key concepts and a further rationale for conducting this literature overview, deliberately labelled an overview, rather than a review, because the interest is not in the studies’ research findings. The aim is purely theoretical; to explore how ME researchers characterise PL to define PL in primary ME.

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• Flaten, Linn (2025). Students’ mathematical reasoning in a playful inquiry-based context in early mathematics in school. Universitetet i Agder. ISSN 9788284272771. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Denne avhandlingen rapporterer fra en kvalitativ forskningsstudie som gir innsikt i hva som kjennetegner andreklassingers matematiske resonnering når de deltar i lek og inquiry-pregede aktiviteter i matematikk på småskoletrinnet. Studien er innrammet i et sosiokulturelt perspektiv på læring. Konteksten for studien er en barneskole i et urbant område i Norge hvor det empiriske materialet er generert gjennom videoobservasjoner og feltnotater ved flere anledninger spredt over et skoleår. Ved å følge en refleksiv tematisk analyse undersøkes to lærere og deres respektive andreklassingers bruk av språk og ulike semiotiske midler for å resonnere. En multimodal tilnærming tas for å kvalitativt undersøke hva som kjennetegner elevenes resonnering innenfor en lek og inquiry-preget kontekst. Ved å fokusere på elevenes verbale og ikke-verbale kommunikasjon, bidrar studien med innsikt i konteksten hvor elevenes resonnering oppstår, samspillet mellom ulike kommunikasjonsformer, og hvordan de ulike semiotiske ressursene kjennetegnet andreklassingenes resonnering når de løste de matematiske problemene de ble presentert for. Når de interagerte og kommuniserte med andre i guidede lekaktiviteter, viser studien at andreklassingene fikk muligheten til å bruke matematisk språk for å resonnere og forklare deres matematiske tenkning. Utdragene som presenteres i de tre empiriske studiene eksemplifiserer situasjoner hvor elevenes tidligere tilegnede matematiske tallbegreper ble anvendt i nye situasjoner og aktualisert gjennom bruk av semiotiske ressurser i felles aktivitet med jevnaldrende og læreren. Studien viser at andreklassingene resonnerte på en multimodal måte når de forklarte, argumenterte og uttrykte sin tenkning med andre. Det gjorde de i flere faser av deres problemløsning mens de øvde på sine matematiske resonnering- og problemløsningsferdigheter. De mest fremtredende semiotiske ressursene som ble brukt i det analyserte materialet var tale, gester og bruk av artefakter. Studien bidrar videre til eksisterende forskning ved å eksemplifisere hvordan lek og inquiry-preget læring kan se ut på småskoletrinnet. De lek og inquiry-pregede matematikkaktivitetene, designprinsippene og implikasjonene for praksis som trekkes, kan være verdifulle for andre forskere og lærere som vurderer å implementere en lek og inquiry-preget tilnærming til undervisning og læring av matematikk i sine klasserom. Matematikklæreren har en viktig og utfordrende rolle i å undervise matematikk gjennom elevsentrerte, lekbaserte tilnærminger, for eksempel ved å balansere sin egen og elevenes deltakelse for å gi elevene muligheter til å matematisere elementer av deres lek. Studien eksemplifiserer også hvordan lærerne fungerte som viktige dialogpartnere når de lekte sammen med elevene i konteksten av lek og inquiry-pregede aktiviteter i matematikk.

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