2002．第17卷第1期（Vol. 17 No. 1）．pp. 63–77
The Development of a New Scale to Measure Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Students (TATS)
Aik-Kwang NG
Abstract
Teachers vary in their attitudes toward students. Some teachers are conservative and autocratic, while others are liberal and democratic. Research indicates that both of these attitudes can have a significant, though different, impact on the learning outcomes of students. To spur further research in this important area, I developed a new scale for measuring these two attitudes. This new scale is known as the TATS (Teachers’ Attitude Toward Students). There were altogether 16 items in this scale. One set of items measured the conservative-autocratic attitude, while the other measured the liberal-democratic attitude. A survey questionnaire containing this new scale to measure attitudes (TATS) and an established scale to measure personal values (the Schwartz value survey) was distributed to a sample of 65 experienced teachers and 82 trainee-teachers in Singapore. The TATS scale was found to possess internal reliability. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that it possessed a clear factor structure. In addition, the conservative-autocratic attitude of TATS was also found to correlate positively with the closed cluster of the Schwartz value survey, while the liberal-democratic attitude of TATS was found to correlate positively with the open cluster of the Schwartz value survey. Experienced teachers scored significantly higher on the conservative-autocratic subscale, while trainee-teachers scored significantly higher on the liberal-democratic subscale. Based on the survey findings, it was concluded that TATS scale was reliable and valid. Various suggestions were made on how to utilize it in future studies.
Keywords: TATS; conservative-autocratic attitude; liberal-democratic attitude; self-determination perspective
摘要
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