Conceptualising Success in Mathematics Education: Three Immigrant Families Discussing Saturday Schooling of Their Children in Norway

In Norway, Saturday schools, which are usually established to provide possibilities for children from immigrant families to learn about heritage languages and culture, can also include mathematics learning. However, the reasons why parents want their children to learn mathematics in their home languages has not previously been investigated. Consequently, we present case studies of three immigrant parents. Each parent was interviewed individually. In each case, the main reason for enrolling their children was to gain more opportunities to develop their language skills. However, they had individual reasons for sending their children to learn mathematics which were connected to what the parents considered would increase opportunities for their children's future education. For each parent, mathematics was important for their children to understand and use in order to gain access to future educational opportunities.