Teachers' meanings: transcending the cultural context

Abstract

Teachers' meanings regarding teaching have been of interest to researchers for the last two decades and in the higher education literature there is some consensus for the way in which these are represented. One procedure for investigating aspects related to teachers' meanings is the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI) which was originally developed in Australia and this study was conducted in order to investigate the feasibility of using the Inventory in Singapore, in a different cultural context. This article reports the results of data from the Inventory obtained from 51 lecturers in a polytechnic in Singapore. Modifications were made to the language of some items and the administration of the Inventory is described in detail. The results of an exploratory factor analysis indicated that the factor loadings reflected the factors identified in previous studies using the ATI. The data are discussed and implications for a more substantive study are considered. The results of the study provided evidence that it is feasible to use the ATI in this Singapore context.