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TPI Reflections

These are my results from the TPI survey. When I took the survey I was thinking mostly about how I would teach a math class, rather than an English class (my other teachable subject). 


The first thing I notice is that the difference between my five perspectives is pretty small. This seems very accurate to me - I believe that different students in different situations need different teachers. A successful teacher should be able to adapt their teaching to match their students needs. So therefore, it makes sense to me that all five of the perspectives would be fairly equally represented. 

The most recessive perspectives for me were Transmission and Apprenticeship. This seems to align with how I see myself as a teacher. I think that the ideas and aspects of teaching associated with transmission and apprenticeship are important in teaching, but not the necessarily thing to focus on. Rather, they are the necessary baseline from which you can build a teaching practice. To be a successful teacher you have to be able to successfully convey information about your subject, and you also need to demonstrate expertise and show your understanding of the subject to your students. However I don't think these are the things that make a teacher extraordinary - rather they are the necessary minimum.

My most dominant perspectives are Developmental and Nurturing. These seem to be the perspectives that see the students as individual people with unique needs. I think these perspectives are very important in a teaching practice. In this program, professor's keep saying that teachers "teach the student, not only the subject," and I think this is what these two perspectives address. 

What was surprising for me on my TPI was how low social reform was. Reflecting on this, I think I would probable get a different result here if I were thinking about teaching English (my other teachable subject) rather than math. I think teaching for social reform, or making a difference with teaching is very important. However, I think in teaching math the difference I will hopefully make is more localized to the individual student, that to society as a whole. In a subject like English where I can select books that promote discussion about big societal ideas and issues, Social Reform would likely play more of a role in my teaching. 

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