The role of teachers has evolved from a religious-based regimented job requiring no more than high school, GCE or qualifications to one that operates at the intersections of research, policy, and practice. Teaching is now understood as a social, ideological and political practice requiring knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and skills necessary to demonstrate global best practice. Using case study of selected school teachers in Cross River State Nigeria, this paper looks at the confluence of teacher beliefs as informed by culture and how these beliefs drive classroom practices. A combination of observation and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data which was phenomenologically analyzed.