Relationship Between Proxies for Learning and Mathematically Related Beliefs

Students do not always behave the way we intend for them to. Sometimes they substitute the learning opportunities we offer them with behaviours that, on the surface, seem to be conducive to learning but in reality stand in place of learning. In this paper I explore teachers’ beliefs of such behaviour, called proxies for learning, and compare them to teachers’ beliefs of what it means to teach and learn mathematics. Results indicate that if teachers have a problem-solving view of mathematics, then they see such behaviours as their responsibility and theirs to fix. If teachers have a toolbox view of mathematics, they see these behaviours as inevitable and the responsibility of the students.