Development and Validation of the TLOS: A Measure of Child-Centered and Adult-Centered Learning Orientations and Its Revelations About Montessori Versus Conventional Pedagogy

Abstract

Existing measures of child- versus adult-centered teaching beliefs are couched in the language of conventional teaching methods. Here we describe development and validation of the new Teachers’ Learning Orientation Scale (TLOS), a measure of student- and teacher-oriented beliefs created for use across pedagogies. Following preliminary multi-method scale development studies, the TLOS was evaluated in a sample of 451 conventional and Montessori teachers of children ages 3–12; Montessori is the most widely used alternative pedagogy. Confirmatory factor analysis and analysis of measurement invariance resulted in long- and short-form versions of the TLOS, both indicating two stable factors capturing teacher- and student-oriented beliefs. The 20-item long form includes more comprehensive coverage of constructs and is useful for within-pedagogy analyses, while the 12-item short form demonstrates scalar invariance between Montessori and conventional teachers and is therefore useful for comparisons between groups. Subsequent analyses revealed that associations between teacher beliefs and student grade level (early childhood vs. elementary) differ across Montessori and conventional pedagogies. Analyses further indicated important differences in Montessori teacher beliefs associated with certification pathway, with Association Montessori Internationale (AMI)-certified teachers rating lower on teacher-oriented beliefs than teachers certified through other pathways. This initial validation study suggests the TLOS measure will be useful for further exploration of these important learning orientations within and across pedagogies.