Mathematics and Science Teachers' Use of Resources: What counts as a resource?

In this presentation we report on the analysis of interviews with teachers of mathematics in vocational education (upper secondary schooling in Norway). The context in which the interviews were conducted was within the frame of the European Union funded MaSciL (Mathematics and Science for Life) project. Linking to that project, seven teachers were asked about their perceptions of Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) and its ‘use’ in their teaching; the resources they use (and in which ways) in professional education mathematics classes; and their opportunities for and experiences of professional learning. Subsequently, we used the ‘documentational approach of didactics’ to analyse the resources and their use in the vocational schooling context. Results show that the notion of resources, in particular in the vocational context, should be enlarged to include those especially helpful for modeling particular authentic situations in vocational education. Indeed, there was evidence that particular resources appear to help to develop particular student learning strategies.