I just don’t like math, or I think it is interesting, but difficult … : Mathematics classroom setting influencing inclusion

This research reports on a study investigating how three students perceived as being in special educational needs in mathematics (SEM), either as students in access to mathematics or as students in struggle to get access, talk about participation in mathematics education. Discourse analysis is used as a theory and a tool to investigate the students’ own stories of learning and teaching in an inclusive mathematics classroom. The results show that students’ participation in mathematics education is influenced by how the mathematics education is set up. That is, how the organisation of the mathematics classroom and students being in a small group influence students’ participation.The results also show that even though the same issues of the organisation influence the three students, there is a diversity within the issues, calling for a critical question, is the inclusive classroom setting really inclusive in terms of participation and access to mathematics