Mathematics in play

The case study in this paper describes characteristics of an early childhood education (ECE) teacher’s learning. We reconstruct how this learning develops in a heterogeneous professional learning community (PLC) consisting of primary- and preschool teachers and researchers, aimed at stimulating young children’s language and mathematics development in spontaneous play. The teacher’s development is viewed from two perspectives. The first perspective is considering children’s learning from an empirical global staging about children’s learning in mathematics. The second perspective is formed by learning outcomes, such as knowledge and ideas. We establish that the teacher’s learning, stimulated by discussions in the PLC and new experiences in teaching practice, did indeed develop in stimulating mathematics in children’s spontaneous play. She uses opportunities and reflects on limitations hereof.