Low entrance or reaching the goals? Mathematics teachers’ categories for differentiating with open-ended tasks in inclusive classrooms

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Open-ended inquiry tasks are considered a powerful approach for addressing the diversity of inclusive mathematics classrooms due to their potential for natural differentiation. However, this potential can only unfold when the teachers know how to work with the tasks. This article investigates teachers’ personal categories for differentiating with an open-ended task, especially with respect to providing support for students with special needs. In a qualitative case study, a category-eliciting activity was conducted within a professional development session. Data gathering comprised 14 secondary mathematics teachers’ and special needs teachers’ video-taped group discussions and written answers, which were analyzed qualitatively. The results show that most teachers’ ideas for support provided for the students with mathematical learning disabilities only addressed the low entrance, but not the core learning goals and the required basic conceptual knowledge.