If you want to change beliefs, the best thing to do is change behaviors

We have known since Rosenthal’s study in 1964 that teacher expectations have a significant effect on student performance.  Figuring out how to change teachers’ beliefs about students, however,  has proven to be a challenge.  Attitudes and beliefs can be hard to change and are manifested in amazingly subtle ways. In this study Robert Pinata tries a new approach.  Pianta thinks that to change beliefs, the best thing to do is change behaviors. “It’s far more powerful to work from the outside in than the inside out if you want to change expectations,” he says. In other words, if you want to change a mind, talking about it is usually not enough.

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