"People don't believe what you tell them. They rarely believe what you show them. They often believe what their friends tell them. They always believe what they tell themselves." — Seth Godin
(1) The Common Assumption: If we want to shift teacher beliefs about student potential, we need to present them with enough data, research, and compelling arguments to convince them that all students can learn at high levels. If they just see the evidence for themselves, they will change their minds.
(2) The New Perspective: Beliefs are not formed or changed through argument and evidence alone (but haven’t we all learned this through years of watching Facebook battles unfold?). Teachers who hold low expectations for students likely have years of experience reinforcing those beliefs. They have worked incredibly hard, but their efforts have often been met with low student achievement. Their belief system has been shaped by experience, not by a lack of information. To foster a different mindset, we must first help them experience different results.
Why Talking Isn’t Enough
Research from John Hattie has demonstrated that teachers’ expectations are one of the most significant influences on student success. Unfortunately, simply telling teachers this does little to create change. When we seek to challenge deeply held beliefs with words alone, we often reinforce resistance rather than promoting openness. The honest reality is that actions may speak louder than words, but results speak the loudest.
If we want every teacher to believe in every student’s potential, they have to see and experience that potential in action. That means creating conditions where students achieve beyond what teachers previously thought possible. It means supporting teachers in implementing strategies that yield tangible student growth so that their lived experiences challenge and ultimately shift their expectations.
Shaping Beliefs Through Experience
Start with Small Wins: Help teachers implement evidence-based, high-impact strategies that lead to immediate and visible student progress. When they see struggling students succeed, their expectations begin to shift.
Create Collective Efficacy: Build structures where teachers collaborate and witness success together. When they see their peers achieving breakthrough results, they are more likely to adjust their own beliefs.
Highlight Student Growth: Focus not just on final achievement, but on growth metrics that illustrate student progress over time. Shifting the lens from fixed ability to continuous improvement reinforces the belief that all students can achieve and gives staff something to work for.
Making Success Visible: The Role of Data
Changing experiences is the first step, but making those experiences visible is just as critical. If teachers are implementing new strategies that lead to better student engagement and success, they need to see the evidence of that shift in real time. This includes not only long-term student achievement data but also more immediate indicators of progress and change.
Implementation Data Matters: Before significant student achievement changes occur, we can track shifts in instructional practices. Are teachers consistently using new strategies? Are students more engaged in discussions? Are classrooms showing a higher percentage of on-task behavior? Documenting and sharing these early successes with visual aides helps reinforce new beliefs.
Short-Term Wins Build Confidence: Teachers are more likely to sustain a practice when they see small, measurable improvements. Data on formative assessments, classroom observations, and student engagement can provide that early validation before standardized test results come in.
Connecting to the Critical Importance of Using Data: As we discussed in our previous blog on data use, collecting and analyzing meaningful data drives improvement. By using data to highlight changes in teacher practice and student behavior, we create a feedback loop that strengthens belief in the new approach. When that data is accessible in the form of visuals and clear measurements, it is easier for others to digest and internalize the results to inform their own beliefs.
Reflecting on Results to Solidify Beliefs
"We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience." - John Dewey
Seeing results is powerful, but true learning happens when we reflect on those results and connect them back to our practices. Helping teachers analyze their successes - whether through student growth, increased engagement, or improved classroom behaviors - reinforces the connection between new instructional strategies and improved outcomes. When educators engage in structured reflection on what worked and why, they take ownership of the belief shift, making it more likely to sustain over time.
Conclusion
If we want to change beliefs, we must first change experiences. Data and dialogue have their place, but they are not enough. Instead, we need to create moments where teachers witness student success firsthand, where their own experiences contradict old narratives. As their students achieve at higher levels, teachers will internalize new beliefs - not because we told them to, but because they have seen it for themselves.
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