The purpose of the study was to analyze the perceptions of first and last-year pedagogy students (n=50) regarding mathematics teaching from three dimensions: 1) mathematics as an object of study, 2) the utility of mathematics, and 3) teaching and learning mathematics. A quantitative approach was used with a descriptive-comparative design, and results show the prevalence of an understanding of mathematics as an instrumental discipline mainly supported by the use of textbooks in first-year students. This changes by the last year of studies, when cultural and communicative aspects are incorporated into mathematics, which takes on an interdisciplinary nature. No differences between groups were observed in the learning and teaching dimension of mathematics, which raises a series of challenges for teachers' initial training.