| Abstract: | The relation between teachers' attitudes toward teaching practices presented in inservice training and the subsequent use of these practices was investigated. Three groups of junior high teachers (N?=?19) attended five workshops on effective teaching and received different between-workshop activities. Pre- to posttraining observations, questionnaires, and interviews were used to assess behavior changes and attitudes. Correlational analyses indicated that teachers' posttraining ratings of the importance of using the practices (philosophical acceptance) was predictive of their use by teachers. Qualitative data analyses revealed that improving teachers differed from nonimproving teachers in their willingness to experiment in their classrooms and in their growth in self-efficacy. Nonimproving teachers tended to defend their natural style of teaching, to attempt few changes, and to have low expectations for themselves and for their students. Staff developers need to attend to philosophical acceptance, self-efficacy, and the importance of the suggested practices during inservice training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
