Recent Publications Sample Research Projects Perspectives on Teaching The Teaching Perspectives Inventory Chinese Conceptions of Teaching Andragogy Research Projects Dan Pratt's Home Page Take the now! The Teaching Perspectives Inventory My current research examines interactions of the personal with the contextual, that is, ways in which a person’s philosophy of teaching interacts with his or her local context of work. As an indication of philosophy of teaching a colleague and I (John Collins) have developed a Teaching Perspectives Inventory, which is a 45-item instrument that yields dominant and back-up perspectives on teaching. As of December 1999, over 1000 teachers and educators involved in adult and/or higher education have taken the instrument. We now have a series of longitudinal studies underway in which we examine the development of teaching perspectives in such contexts as surgical training, teacher training, private sector training, and higher education more generally. In each case we are trying to understand the process of reflection and the nature of transitions that accompany a shift in one’s philosophy of teaching. Some of the works in progress and available for viewing include: Pratt, D.D. and Collins, J.B. (2000). The Teaching Perspectives Inventory: Developing and testing an instrument to assess philosophical orientations to teaching. Proceedings of the 41st Adult Education Research Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, June. [click here] Teaching Perspectives Summary: This page describes the five perspectives. [click here] Teaching Perspectives: Where did they come from: This page gives a brief comment on the origin and research behind the perspectives. [click here] Transmission Perspective -- A snapshot: This is a sample of detailed materials describing each perspective [click here] Sample items: If you want to see some of the items used in the TPI, [click here]