Karin Sjöberg Wallby, honorary doctor of Teacher Education

Karin Sjöberg Wallby gew up at Midsommarkransen in Stockholm. She decided early in life to become a teacher and she always liked school, longing for the autumn start. 

”I still remember the feeling when mother and I shopped for lining paper for the lift-lid desk and the books and how mother carefully prepared them. Doing well at school was important and enjoyable. For my parents, education was important as they had not had the privilege to study. They respected the teachers and talked to me about how teachers did their best and wanted the best for all pupils, but that they also had to comply with ordinances and regulations. I think that this basic respect for teachers and understanding of the profession have formed me and influenced my professional life.” 

Karin Sjöberg Wallby received her primary school teaching degree at the former Karlstad University College and has worked to improve mathematics teaching during her whole career first as primary school teacher and later as a teacher and co-worker at the National Centre for Mathematics Education, NCM, and the journal Nämnaren(Denominator).  Through books, journals, articles, seminars and workshops she has endeavoured to spread teachers' proven experience and transform research results into useful models for teaching mathematics.

”To create interest in mathematics, teachers must be given the opportunity to let children explore and play mathematics and to experience the joy of learning something new and unexpected. I wish that children should primarily see school as a place to have such experiences and that goal fulfilment and assessment should not be experienced as the purpose of education, which regrettably many do nowadays.”

 ”When I look back on my professional life, I see that cooperation has been the motivating force and most developing factor for me. My colleagues at Sollebrunn's school, all other teachers I've collaborated with and my colleagues at NCM have been crucial to my job satisfaction and professional development.”

In addition, Karin Sjöberg Wallby has an extensive national and international network and has for many years been actively involved in the biennial movement, which organises the mathematics biennial hosted by Karlstad University:  

”I would like to thank Karlstad University for once again recognising the teaching profession and the important work carried out daily in classrooms and in teacher collaborations. I am happy and honoured for this acknowledgement of my work, which is rooted in my teacher training in Karlstad.”