In this paper, we presented the results from a comparative analysis of popular year one mathematics textbooks, one from each of England and Sweden. Using the FoNS framework as a tool, we evaluated what opportunities to acquire foundational number sense were offered in the different tasks presented in each book.
The analysis revealed both similarities and differences between the books. Similarities lay the extensive opportunities offered in both books for children to recognise and write number symbols and perform simple arithmetic operations. Differences lay in the Swedish textbook’s greater emphases on different representations of number, quantity discrimination and the connections between numbers and quantity, highlighting conceptual emphases on number. The English book offered substantially more opportunity for students to count systematically, highlighting procedural emphases. Neither of the books offered more than few tasks related to estimation or number patterns.
Examples of additive tasks from the Swedish and English books respectively:
The Swedish task, which occurred before the introduction of addition, was thought to encourage completion by counting and coded for systematic counting. The expectation that students would address issues of equality or inequality led to its also being coded for quantity discrimination. In addition, the dot patterns not only offered different representations of number but allowed for subitising and an awareness of the relationship between number and quantity.
The English task involved number recognition, while its focus was on simple arithmetic. In addition, its allusion to cardinality led to its being coded for awareness of the relationship between number and quantity.