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There is broad acceptance that mathematics teachers’ beliefs about the nature of mathematics influence the ways in which they teach the subject. It is also recognised that mathematics as practised in typical school classrooms is different from the mathematical activity of mathematicians. This paper presents case studies of two secondary mathematics teachers, one experienced and the other relatively new to teaching, and considers their beliefs about the nature of mathematics, as a discipline and as a school subject. Possible origins and future developments of the structures of their belief systems are discussed along with implications of such structures for their practice. It is suggested that beliefs about mathematics can usefully be considered in terms of a matrix that accommodates the possibility of differing views of school mathematics and the discipline.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Teacher beliefs . Nature of mathematics . School mathematics . Belief systems
Research Division:	Education
Research Group:	Curriculum and pedagogy
Research Field:	Mathematics and numeracy curriculum and pedagogy
Objective Division:	Education and Training
Objective Group:	Teaching and curriculum
Objective Field:	Teacher and instructor development
UTAS Author:	Beswick, K (Professor Kim Beswick)
ID Code:	72747
Year Published:	2011
Web of Science® Times Cited:	83
Deposited By:	Education
Deposited On:	2011-08-31
Last Modified:	2017-07-20
Downloads:	21 View Download Statistics