Affective Relations to Mathematics in Swedish Early Childhood Education

This thesis examines how affective relations to mathematics emerge, become visible, and are sustained in Swedish early childhood education (preschool and preschool class). Integrating psychological, physiological, and interactional perspectives, it explores how children’s orientations toward mathematics are shaped through teachers’ affective dispositions, children’s real-time engagement, and the multimodal practices of everyday preschool interaction. Three empirical studies address two overarching questions: How teachers and children co-construct affective relations to mathematics, and What different methodological approaches contribute to understanding these relations. Study I used a municipal survey of 357 educators, employing an adapted Math Anxiety Scale for Teachers of Preschool. A two-factor structure (general vs. teaching-related anxiety) was confirmed. Results showed that certified preschool teachers with higher math anxiety reported significantly lower frequency of math teaching and math-related talk—particularly in structured situations. This association did not appear for caregivers, revealing a profession-specific pathway through which teachers’ affective orientations may shape children’s opportunities to encounter mathematics. Study II combined pupillometry, child-friendly affect ratings, and visuospatial working memory measures with preschool class children (mean age 5.67) and one parent each. Task difficulty reliably increased pupil dilation during problem processing, but anticipatory activation before math tasks was minimal. No associations emerged between children’s affect ratings and physiological measures, nor between children’s and parents’ math anxiety. These findings suggest that physiological components typically associated with math anxiety are not yet consolidated at this age. Study III analyzed nearly six hours of video-recorded everyday mathematics activities in a preschool using multimodal conversation analysis. Teachers’ responses to children’s affective stances—through prosody, gaze, body orientation, gesture, and material action—organized participation in counting, problem-solving, and emergent math play. Response practices accomplished re‑engagement, repair, explanation, and moral work, demonstrating that affect is central—not peripheral—to the organization of early mathematics activities. Across studies, affective relations to mathematics appear relational, situated, and developmentally emergent. The thesis shows the value of mixed methods for capturing both intrapersonal and interactional dimensions of affect. Practically, it highlights the need to support teachers’ own affective orientations to mathematics and to design early math environments that combine cognitive challenge with interactional practices that recognize and build on children’s affective engagement.