Bridging the belief-action gap in a teachers’ professional learning community on teaching of thinking

Abstract

This study aims at exploring the influence of The Alliance of Thinking Schools, a multi-regional, researcher-practitioner partnered teachers’ professional learning community (PLC) on the teaching of thinking in China, on bridging teachers’ belief-action gap. Specifically, this study aims to investigate the relationships between teachers’ beliefs about learning, participation in the PLC, engagement in learning, and engagement in practice. A total of 478 teachers from 39 schools participated in this study. A questionnaire adapted from existing studies and verified with confirmatory factor analysis was sent to these teachers. Structural Equation Model revealed that: (a) teachers’ beliefs about learning had no significant direct effects on their engagement in learning, but had significant indirect effects mediated by their participation in the PLC; (b) teachers’ beliefs about learning had significant effects on their engagement in practice, both directly and mediated by their participation in the PLC; and (c) teachers’ engagement in practice had significant direct effects on their engagement in learning, but cannot be reversed. The findings of this study confirmed the existence of a belief-action gap in teacher’ continuing learning with empirical evidence. The findings also revealed that a well-accepted PLC could help to bridge this gap. Implications for teachers’ continuing learning were discussed.