THE CONFLICT BETWEEN TEACHERS' BELIEFS AND CLASSROOM PRACTICES

The relationships between the beliefs and practices of mathematics teachers'have been shown to be complex. In this case study of one mathematics teacher, it was found that while the teacher had clear and quite strongly held beliefs about mathematics and its teaching and learning, his classroom practices did not always reflect these beliefs. In some lessons other . factors meant that the lessons was not conducted in a way which reflected the teacher's beliefs. However, the teacher was aware of this contradiction. Many factors influence the classroom practices of mathematics teachers. Thompson (1992) noted that not only do teachers' beliefs about mathematics and its teaching and learning appear to have a significant effect on their approaches to teaching, but also that the relationship between beliefs and practice is complex. Studies have demonstrated "varying degrees of consistency between teacher's professed beliefs about the nature of mathematics and the teachers' instructional practices" (Thompson, 1992, p. 134). The aim of this case study was to explore the relationships among beliefs, context and the mathematics teaching practices of one year 8 mathematics teacher. The case study was part of a larger study into the use of writing activities in mathematics classrooms.