Ally, NoorChristiansen, Iben Maj2016-07-212016-07-212013Ally, N., & Christiansen, I. M. (2013). Opportunities to develop mathematical proficiency in Grade 6 mathematics classrooms in KwaZulu-Natal. Perspectives in Education: Primary mathematics: addressing the crisis, 31(3), 106-121.0258-2236 (print)2519-593X (online)http://hdl.handle.net/11660/3698In this article, we propose a rubric for assessing the teacher’s provision of opportunities to develop mathematical proficiency in classrooms. The rubric is applied to data from 30 video recordings of mathematics lessons taught in Grade 6 in one district of KwaZulu-Natal. The results suggest that opportunities to develop procedural fluency are common, but generally of a low quality; that opportunities to develop conceptual understanding are present in about half the lessons, but also are not of a high quality; and that overall opportunities to develop mathematical proficiency are limited, because learners are not engaging in adaptive reasoning, hardly have any opportunities to develop a productive disposition, and seldom are given the opportunity to engage in problem-solving which could develop their strategic competence.enMathematical proficiencyOpportunities to learnMathematics teachingSouth AfricaConceptual understandingProcedural fluencyArticleFaculty of Education, University of the Free State