2.23.2011

The TPI

I don't teach anymore so as I completed the Teaching Perspective Inventory I reflected on my experiences as a learner as well as specific teachers I appreciated to help me respond the the questions. My dominant score was for Apprenticeship (38).

The TPI describes the Apprenticeship as teachers revealing their "inner workings of skilled performance" and translating "into accessible language". It also states that these teachers organize tasks from simple to complex that provide learners with different points of contact and that "they engage learners within their "zone of development".

I believe that this is very accurate and  that it is my learning in adulthood, many times in the role of apprentice, that influences my teaching perspective. For example, I taught an ESL class, right out of college, without having any experience in teaching what-so-ever. However, I had a fantastic teacher who guided my through the teaching process, reviewed my plans, observed my teaching, modeled responses to difficult questions, and provided continuous feedback. This is how I learned about student-centered teaching.

My lowest scores (31), although none were recessive, were for Transmission and Social Reform. The low score for transmission did not surprise me because it is reflective of much of my secondary and post-secondary education. It's not the best way for me to learn and therefore, I have an aversion to it. I am, however, a little disappointed that my Social Reform score was equally low. I do think it's important but I suspect that social reform has not been a big part of my learning experiences.

My developmental and nurturing scores were similar, 36 and 35 respectively. I thought these were fairly accurate and reflective of some of my learning experiences at TC. This is more true for developmental than nurturing where the course has been structured around addressing challenging questions and connecting them back to concepts learned in the earlier part of the course. (I'm specifically thinking of my Curriculum Design course.)

I should say that although I don't teach now, I used to teach GED prep at a community center a long time ago. My nurturing score is as high as it is because of my experience with this population of learners, many of whom had dropped out high school. It was important to understand where they were coming from in order to help them move forward and attain their high school equivalency.
 

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