The challenges proposed by the knowledge society requires a change of mentality and routines of our students. Consequently, a shift is also needed in the role played by teachers in their education. 34 secondary school teachers from three Spanish high schools, from Ceuta, Madrid and Asturias, working as part of a network, began to introduce project-based learning (PBL) and cooperative learning to facilitate this change. We analyze the correlations between the beliefs and the attitudes of teachers when they were initiating a methodological transition in their patterns of teaching. At the same time, we compare the competencies and strategies related with PBL that 372 secondary school students from these high schools consider being personally important with those who they believe necessary to improve their learning or to be successful with academic requirements.