Praxeological Perspectives of Formative Assessment in Swedish Mathematics Teacher Education

Course literature in mathematics teacher education provides prospective teachers with conceptualizations of formative assessment practices, described both in terms of how to assess and the theoretical foundations behind assessment practices. If the practical and theoretical aspects are not clearly connected, prospective mathematics teachers may find formative assessment methods difficult to use and combine. Studying how formative assessment practices are justified in course literature is consequently a way of studying how such practices are justified within the teacher education in which they are used. We collected all compulsory readings from a Swedish teacher education program, downloading or scanning them. Through a thematic analysis, partly deductive and based on the theoretical concept of didactic praxeology, we identified four main theoretical ideas underpinning formative assessment methods: equality, student agency, relation to mathematics, and efficiency. We discuss how focusing on justifications of formative assessment practices can provide a more precise grammar for related practices.