The paper reports the first results of an ongoing research project aiming atcharacterizing Swedish school algebra (grades 1-9). Both diachronic andsynchronic studies are conducted to identify the specific teaching traditiondeveloped in Sweden and different theoretical approaches are applied in theoverall project in order to obtain a rich picture of the Swedish case. The resultsreported here are based on the analyses of mathematics curriculum, textbooks andfocus group interviews with teachers in seven schools. The initial results indicatethat, since 1980s, algebra is vaguely addressed in the steering documents and theprogression of algebraic thinking is elusive in teachers’ discourses. We discuss theimplications of the initial findings for our project.