Abstract
Guided by the sociocultural research field in mathematics didactics, this study investigates the beliefs of a group of math teachers regarding mathematics’ teaching and learning, in the province of Ñuble in the eighth region of Chile. Employing a questionnaire entitled ‘Math scale, culture, and learning’ containing a Likert scale created for this study and semi-structured interviews, the beliefs of 162 teachers are described and analyzed, and the teachers’ reflections are explored regarding their beliefs about mathematics, culture, and their teaching practice. The results show the high value assigned to the social knowledge related to mathematics, the contextualization of mathematics and the underlying relationship between mathematics and culture as fundamental motivations in the teaching and learning processes. The study raises the need to promote critical thinking about those mathematics sociocultural beliefs that shape teaching practice.
Keywords:
Mathematics; Culture; Pedagogical practice; Beliefs