ESPLAT 2025 conference: Scientific thinking in challenging times

Growing evidence suggests that myths about teaching and learning, such as “School kills Creativity” are pervasive, even among education professionals. This research analyzed the distribution of such myths across different populations. Therefore, within a quasi-experimental study, the prevalence of myths about teaching and learning, the certainty with which individuals believe in them, and the influence of professional ability self-concept were examined.
In total, 29 myths were selected based on a literature review about misconceptions related to teaching and learning. Participants indicated their level of agreement with the myth (presented as a statement) on a five-point Likert scale presented in an online survey. An additional rating scale for each statement assessed participants’ confidence in their judgement. As a covariate, professional ability self-concept was measured.
The sample consisted of 167 participants (43 male, 122 female, 2 diverse; mean age = 27.5 years; SD = 8.24). Of these, 55 participants were pre-service teachers, 49 were in-service teachers, and 63 were from professions outside teaching; except one student, all of them were employed in different fields.
Results reveal that the groups differed both in terms of agreement and confidence. Teachers were more critical than students in agreeing with learning myths, and students were more critical than lay people. Nevertheless, only in-service teachers differ significantly from lay people while other comparisons were not statistically significant. Descriptive data showed that the mean level of agreement with the myths was still very high for all groups (teachers: 3.30; students: 3.35; others: 3.46). While teachers did not differ from students in terms of certainty, both differed from lay people. Furthermore, ability self-concept has a positive influence on certainty, but not on agreement with the myths. Our findings suggest a continued need for training both pre- and in-service professionals in identifying teaching and learning myths as such.