Mathematics teachers from different cultures have their own beliefs, which they translate into their unique teaching approaches. This study is to explore the possible relationship between mathematics teachers’ professed beliefs, cultural background and their instructional practices in Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. The findings revealed that the Saudi in-service teachers’ professed beliefs of the nature, teaching and learning of mathematics swung between Flexible View and Rigid View depending on the context. Their memorization-driven learning and teaching in Saudi could be explained by the historical heritage of religious education as well as the Saudi culture in which rote learning for memorizing the Qur’an is essential. The results also indicated that Sri Lankan pre-service teachers rated their professed beliefs of teaching and learning of mathematics higher for Flexible View, which was also evident in their actual teaching practices. The strong Buddhist culture in Sri Lanka may contribute to the establishment of Flexible View in teaching and learning.