Teachers’ orchestration of multimodal meaning-making approaches in primary mathematics

Abstract

This study examines how Finnish primary school teachers orchestrate Embodied Language (EL) alongside natural, pictorial, and mathematical symbolic language in mathematics classrooms. EL is conceptualized as analytically distinct domains of bodily, tactile, spatial, rhythmic, and playful participation in mathematical meaning making. The study re-analysed classroom observation data from a qualitative multicase study involving five lessons taught by three teachers. Qualitative episode analysis shows that EL functioned in qualitatively different ways—as a bridge to abstraction, as structured sense-making, and as procedural support—highlighting the pedagogical importance of intentional coordination of embodied action within instruction. Practical challenges and affordances in multimodal teaching are also addressed.