When research met policy: a history of innovation and a complicated relationship in three Swedish development projects in mathematics education, 1960–2018

Abstract

This paper concerns the relationship between research and governance policy in three Swedish major development projects in mathematics education: the New Math project (1960–1975), the PUMP project (1970–1980), and the Boost for Mathematics project in (2012–2016). All three projects were driven or financed by the Swedish central school authorities. Using a historical comparative method, this study deepens the understanding of how research co-exists with governance policy when preparing innovations in mathematics education. The main historical sources are official reports and governmental decisions concerning the three projects. The analysis is focused on the nature of the innovations of each project and the role of researchers in the process of creating the innovations. The analysis highlights the theories and the methods involved in those processes. The three projects are also positioned in a context of school governance policy. In Sweden, the prevailing school governing policy changed from a highly centralised governance in the 1960s to a highly decentralised governance in the 2010s. The paper concludes by discussing to what degree the researchers adhered to principles of research or school governance; in particular, the Boost for Mathematics project is considered in this regard. The relevance of the paper in relation to the emerging field of implementation research in mathematics education concerns how historical studies can give new insights about contemporary development projects in mathematics education.