Ideological impediments to instructional innovation: The case of cooperative learning

Abstract

I propose that teachers' ideological beliefs about education play a central role in determining whether instructional innovations are adopted by teachers and if implementation of the new method is sustained. Teachers' beliefs about the purpose of schooling and regarding the process of knowledge acquisition are discussed within the context of a cooperative learning instructional innovation. Systematic sources of variation in teachers' beliefs and how they affect decisions to adopt and implement teaching methods are considered. Some ways are suggested to utilize knowledge of these systematic sources of variation to enhance the design and outcomes of staff development programs for instructional innovations.