About
Educator Beliefs of Effective Teaching and Learning Practices
At the heart of teaching and learning are the beliefs, dispositions and attitudes that teachers
hold regarding students, curriculum and the daily life of the classroom. Educator beliefs are
highly influential on student success, as such beliefs guide teacher decision-making and
instructional processes. It is believed that educators who possess particular teacher beliefs are
high-impact educators who create ideal learning environments for all students—especially
diverse learners. The work of John Hattie (Hattie, 2009; Hattie & Yates, 2014) influenced the
adoption of the following 8 essential educator beliefs:
“I believe that my fundamental task is to
reflectively evaluate the effectiveness of my
teaching and learning on student learning and
achievement success."
Teachers must evaluate themselves as well as
students, look at learning through the eyes of
students to determine the impact.
“How do I know that my
teaching approach is working?”
Belief
in
Self-Reflection
“Do I share a common
conception of progress with
other teachers?”
“All students can be challenged.”
"I believe, as a change agent for improved teaching
and learning, that I am responsible for student
successes and failures."
As change agents, teachers provide scaffolding,
feedback, and guidance to help students understand
and learn.
"I believe in deeply thinking about and identifying
the learning processes of all students to inform my
teaching practices.”
Teachers must be "adaptive learning experts" able to
teach in multiple ways and model different ways of
learning.
"I believe student assessment provides me with
valuable feedback about my teaching."
Colleagues can provide feedback. Like students,
teachers need to know where they are going, how
they will get there, and where they will go next.
“It’s all about strategies, never
styles.”
Belief in
Teacher-AsChange-Agent
“It is important to encourage
help-seeking behaviors.”
“In what ways do students learn
differently?”
Belief in Multiple
Ways of Learning
& Knowing
How can I best support the
differences?”
“Who and what did I teach well
and who not so well?”
Belief in
Meaningful
Assessment
“Where are the gaps and
strengths, what was achieved
and what has still to be
achieved?”