The purpose of this study is to examine how students’ repetition of arithmetic concepts is organized during the first year of upper secondary school. The theoretical approach is a triangulation of Freudenthal’s didactical phenomenology of mathematical structures, Bernstein’s repetition -without -repetition and Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. The study includes 94 upper secondary school students and their three mathematics teachers. The crucial content for repetition was whole numbers, rational numbers and potencies as prior knowledge for learning algebra-specific content, such as algebraic expressions, equations and problem solving.

The study is part of a research project about teachers’ professional development in a “research circle.”

The key components of the methodology are a qualitative analysis of the research questions and theoretical triangulation, which aim to identify significant empirical findings.

The results of the study show that limited space is given to conceptual repetition to support students’ learning of algebra. Moreover, the current textbook was not a useful source of support for the teachers.