Changing the professional knowledge and beliefs of teachers: A training study

Abstract The knowledge and beliefs in a domain constitute the cognitive “working capital” of the professional. Restructuring this professional knowledge, as is strived for in training or professional development, can be extremely difficult. In a training study with teachers as participants, it was tested (a) whether delivering training that is congruent with teachers' pre-existing ideas enhances their learning and performance in a domain: and (b) whether providing trainers with diagnostic information about participating teachers' knowledge and beliefs results in better tuned instruction. Training was given according to three training models, each of which offers a different solution to the problem of knowledge restructuring. Teachers' beliefs were found to filter the knowledge acquisition process: the greater the correspondence between teachers' beliefs and what was presented in training, the more likely it was that learning would take place. On the other hand, providing the trainer with diagnostic information was not found to be an effective strategy for achieving greater congruence between teachers' beliefs and instruction. Apparently, other intervention techniques for promoting knowledge restructuring in teachers will have to be considered.