Hellison's Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility: A Model for Teaching for Student Success

Introduction

This chapter is compiled and adapted from Essery’s (2015) Master of Education Major Paper, which explored Hellison's (2011) framework of T.P.S.R., including its use and impact in the L.E.A.D. Program from the author's perspective. The Literature review examined the use and implementation of Hellison's (2011) T.P.S.R framework and reflected the changes and growth of the program.

Hellison’s (1995, 2003, 2011) Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (T.P.S.R.) is a framework developed for working with at-risk, underserved, and inner-city youth (Hellison & Walsh, 2002) and has been used as a youth development model by teachers and practitioners around the world. Hellison’s (2011) T.P.S.R. framework has gained attention and positive support from practitioners and scholars around the world, including Daniel B. Robinson and Lynn Randall’s (2013)Teaching Physical Education Today: Canadian Perspectives as a leading curriculum model in Health and Physical Education.

Hellison (2011) recognizes that, “although it is no panacea for today's social problems, providing today's young people with guidelines for, and practice in, taking responsibility for their well-being and contributing to the well-being of others can make a difference in what they value and what choices they make” (p. 14). Hellison (2011) acknowledges the similarities between T.P.S.R and many other youth development models and understands the unique context for each program. As a result, Hellison (2011) encourages practitioners to “adapt T.P.S.R. to their setting, kids, and style and progress by self-paced successive approximations” (p. 146). T.P.S.R has been described by Hellison (2011) as a “theory-in-practice because it is a framework of values and ideas that are constantly being tested in practice” (p. 8).This chapter looks at strategies to implement with teacher candidates when dealing with classroom management and enhancing classroom community.

Background

Hellison and Walsh (2002) conducted a review of the efficacy of the TPSR model and its impact on youth development by reviewing 26 studies. The review found that in 19 of the studies that used the TPSR framework, there was improved respect, effort, autonomy, and leadership among participants. Hellison (2011) still refers to his framework as a “theory-in-practice because it is a framework of values and ideas that are constantly being tested in practice” (p.8). Recent studies have shown that physical activity programs that use the TPSR framework can facilitate the transfer of life skills into other contexts, including school (Hellison & Wright, 2003; Walsh, 2008; Walsh & Burton, 2008; Walsh, Ozaeta, & Wright, 2010).