Adapting ‘Bianshi’ to variation theory when teaching fraction multiplication: a Swedish teacher’s perspective

What happens when a Swedish mathematics teacher, who has experience of using a specific learning theory—variation theory for learning—as a tool to plan, evaluate, and revise his teaching, is asked to add and apply the Chinese framework of Bianshi (teaching with variation), which also builds on principles of variation? In this paper, we report on a case study where an elementary mathematics teacher in Sweden taught a lesson about fraction multiplication, which was video-recorded, and, in an appurtenant interview, explained the rationale behind his instructional choices. This was followed by a three-month intervention that introduced the teacher to the Bianshi framework of variation. After the intervention, a stimulated recall interview was conducted to obtain information about the way in which the teacher made sense of the Chinese framework when reflecting on his lesson about fraction multiplication. The study contributes to the discussion about whether and how the two frameworks of variation are complementary.