Interpretation of TPI Report

I found it very impressive and exciting in taking the Teaching Perspective Inventory (TPI). It gave me an opportunity to do a self assessment on my own teaching and reflect upon the weak areas for further improvement. Among the 5 perspectives (Transmission, apprenticeship, developmental, nurturing and social reform) I got overall score of 169.  I found I need to have a much focus on developmental perspective as it is 29 at the recessive. I am dominant at the nurturing perspective with a score of 37, while others are above 34. 

Reflecting upon the result of the report, I have noticed that there are actions to be taken for further improvements. I believe that teacher must be well aware of the content as he is the key to deliver it to the students. However, having the content knowledge is not simply enough to be an effective teacher. The teacher must be a talented in transmitting the knowledge. According to the transmission perspective, I need to set the objectives as early as possible and have it shared with learners to be smarter in achieving the objectives. 

In apprenticeship, my positive side is that I already know the students individually, so that I use simplified language to cater the weak learners. However I need to promote ZPD in classroom more and student’s role should be increased while my role is hindered. 

I need t have much focus on developmental perspective, since it is the weakest area of mine. I need to design my lessons with activities which involve students in reasoning and complex cognitive activities. To be more effective I must use good questioning techniques to check their understating, to keep them on the right track, to motivate them and so on. 

I got highest in nurturing; this is because I use different techniques to create a caring and a congenial environment. Since I was teaching a class which is below average. I created the slogan “from known to unknown”. The purpose of this is get help from good students. This helps to make the students care for each other.

 I always try to incorporate societal values and norms in my lessons. When I give activities like article writing, I bring the social issues and ask them to discuss and write on them. This helps to make them aware of the values and norms of the society and prepare good citizenship. 

According to the result of the sub score of the TPI, I got least in intentions while I am satisfied with rest. So I think I need to have strong self set goals and I must be moving forward to achieve the goals. Overall, taking the TPI helped a lot to know where I am now and what I need to do.  

My Teaching Philosophy

As an English language teacher, I believe the purpose of teaching is not only to enhance the academic performance of the students but also to encourage them to be lifelong learners, critical thinkers and productive members of ever changing global society. They need to be provided with a platform where they can build their self confidence and self esteem to face the challenges of this new and progressing world. This can be only done is a holistic and student centered learning environment where teacher acts as a role model who practically demonstrates Islamic principles. 

My teaching philosophy very much aligns with the Gardener’s theory of “multiple intelligence”. At very beginning, I must know interests, learning styles, ethnic backgrounds, attitude and aptitude of the learners to cater the differences in the class. I must be able to adapt the materials, teaching styles and strategies, and assessment to address the differences in learners. This could be only possible by having a vivid understating of the nature of the learners. In addition, at an early stage I make sure that learners are fully aware of what I expect from them and I clarify what they expect from me. This helps to achieve my goals and their goals. 

I believe in the concept “the earlier the better” works well in language teaching classroom. Students are afraid of making mistakes when they reach to adolescence. So in lower grades learners should be encouraged and reinforced to open up and contribute in the class to develop their self confidence.  Since hesitation is the main burden to develop language in learners, I must create a learning environment where every child is attended and every word is considered. 

As I am in favor of implementing constructivist learning theory in language learning, I allow my students to create their own learning in the class. I act as a facilitator or guide rather than directly teaching the rules. I design the lessons in a way that students can acquire language unconsciously in natural setting where they do interactive activities like dramas, role plays and conversations in groups. I foster equal and active participation of the group members to hinder the domination by the good students in the groups. I also emphasize learning from one another to foster weak learners to be up to the standard and I make sure collaborative and cooperative learning is incorporated in my lessons. This helps students to acquire communication skills and ability to work as a team. 

To conclude, I am very much in favor of incorporating 8 key competencies in teaching as stated in the new curriculum of the Maldives. Since I believe “practicing Islam” is most important key competency I try to incorporate this in every single lesson. This helps not only to promote Islamic principles but also strengthen the Islamic faith of the learners and develops Islamic values in them.

Application of Behavioral Learning Theory in ICT Based Classrooms.

Leaning theories provides a pedagogical basis for understanding how our students are learning. Learning is the main focus in the field of educational psychology. Behavioural learning theories focus on behaviours that can be observed only.

Behaviourism is all about behaviour only and not about the cognitive thought processes of brain. Behaviorism deals with the consequences of behavior and those behaviors that can be rewarded or punished. Legendary psychologist such as Watson, Pavlov and Skinner has dominated this field. This theory also has lead to and will probably continue to lead to many useful applications in modern ICT based classrooms

When looked in to the future use of behavioural learning theory in classrooms, its principles can be used in ICT developed classrooms to make it more effective. Classrooms with computers or tablets need organization and management. Scheduling and rotation are an important aspect in such classrooms. Teachers need to plan ahead for student rotation in an efficient ways with less behviour problems and come up with effective the learning activities.

The behaviorist learning theory is very relevant in today’s online technology in the form of educational games, applications and tutorials that students can use to enhance and reinforce new learning and receive instant feedback. With this form of programmed instruction, any student who uses this tutorial are shown a lesson either using visuals, animations or textual instruction, then are presented a series of questions. Based on their answers, students get either positive or negative reinforces.