An Educational Philosophical Inventory: An Instrument For Measuring Change and Determining Philosophical Perspective

Abstract

Most educational theoretical inventories aim to measure teacher attitudes toward children, school experiences, or the educational environment. In the same perspective, such inventories attempt to relate these teacher beliefs to teaching success. One such scale is the Scale For Determining Teacher Beliefs. This scale clearly states its aim is one of finding out what teachers believe about children, schools, and teaching. Educational theoretical inventories deal with the macroscopics of school life. That is, these evaluative devices deal with the surface issues of teacher attitudes. Such an approach is helpful in gaining a periodic picture of how teachers perceive a particular school setting. However, these inventories are open to the criticism of being superficial with regards to testee responses. In many cases the individual completing the inventory may answer as he/she believes the statement should be answered. Thus the validity and reliability of such instruments can always be questioned. In addition, changing circumstances are likely to alter the responses of the individual completing the inventory. Thus such macroscopic evaluations lack the basic microscopic bases necessary for a more comprehensive picture of the person's educational perspectives.