Frequency of using teaching styles between novice and experienced student instructors

The purpose of this study was to examine the student instructors’ teaching styles, based on Mosston and Ashworth’s (2002) teaching framework, in a physical education context. The teaching styles framework outlines ten different teaching styles that include teacher-centered to student-centered styles, which lie along a continuum between reproductive and productive styles (Mosston & Ashworth, 2002). Little is known about the extent to which teachers use different styles in their daily instructional practices and how they perceive benefits of the styles for their students (Kulinna & Cothran, 2003). Previous results showed that teachers preferred using teacher-centred styles. For instance, practice, reciprocal, and inclusion styles were reported to be perceived as most beneficial, and the self-teaching and learner-initiated styles as the least beneficial for students (Cothran et al., 2005). For this study students completed a questionnaire that was based on description and examples of teaching styles, which was developed by Curtner-Smith, Todorovich, McCaughtry, and Lacon (2001). In addition, adopted questions from Jaakkola and Watt (2001) asked participants about a) how often they would use each style in class and whether the teaching approaches bear general benefits that facilitate b) skill development, c) social interactions, d) fun and e) motivation. The sample consisted of 70 first-year students with no school teaching experience and 79 second-year university students, who have been on school placements. First-year student reported they would use practice (M = 3.56) and reciprocal styles (M = 3.49) most frequently. Second-year students indicated that in PE classes practice (M = 3.77) and reciprocal (M = 3.44) styles have been used most often in PE classes. Independent t-tests showed no significant differences between novice and experienced student PE instructors and use of teaching styles and their perceptions of skill development. Significant differences were found for practice style, indicating that experienced student teachers, in contrast to novices, would use this style more frequently to facilitate social interactions, it is more fun, and more motivating. In conclusion, novice and experience student instructors rate similarly on frequent use of teaching styles, but experienced teachers perceive that practice styles has various benefits not supported by novice student instructors. The results have practical relevance as the choice of teaching style can have a potentially positive effect on pupils’ motivation and fun in class.