Response to the TPA Framework

Response to TPA Framework

"I don't need a compass to know which way the wind shines." - Mr. Furious

            It is a very time consuming process! The average time it has taken to write alesson in TPA format is longer than the period one would usually teach as well.While I am by no means disputing the importance of many of the questions posedby the TPA format, the process should probably be reevaluated. The TPA demandsa certain level of dedication from teachers, which is definitely important tothose about to step into the classroom, but in practice it disregards the ideathat teachers, like most other people, have lives in addition to their dutiesas a teacher. Expecting a teacher to fill out a TPA style lesson plan each daywould be asking a lot of teachers who already balance a years worth of work fit into 180 days as well as extra curricular activities they may be a part of as well as their personal lives. Not to mention that this would be in addition to correctingall of the tests and assignments that they spent more time planning thanexecuted over the course of the year.

            A secondary (and far less depressing)response to the TPA framework is that the questions it poses are very importantfor lesson planning. I think it is very important to hear student voice, toanticipate the demands of the individual classroom, and establishing andattempting to achieve goals. These are all very important things to keep inmind as a teacher and this is where the TPA framework has really nailed lessonplanning. Though the structure leaves much to be desired (time and/or a sociallife, e.g.), at the heart of it the TPA holds a philosophy worth adopting in theclassroom.

            A tertiary, and final, response tothe TPA framework is the importance of differentiated instruction. My biggest concern with the changes in education is that it expects all students to be the same, to learn the same information at the same pace, and to be able to succeedin the same subjects (as evidenced by the emphasis placed on standardizedtesting). The TPA asks and encourages teachers to assume the opposite: allstudents will learn at different paces and with different levels of success.Since students are going to learn differently, evidence of mastery will bedisplayed in different ways and achievements need to be differentiated. Thisphilosophy is one that I hope to incorporate into my classroom. The goal shouldn’tbe to plan a lesson that students shouldlearn from, but a lesson that students willlearn from, even if it means a little bit of extra time to plan a moreinclusive lesson.*

*Itshould be noted that I am far more likely to spend extra time working on lessonplanning if it will benefit students as opposed to spending extra time on the bureaucraticnightmare that is the TPA.