268 HELPING PUPILS LEARN

UNIT 5.3 TEACHING STYLES

INTRODUCTION

In Chapter 1, you were asked to consider what kind of teacher you would like to become. In
working through this unit, we hope you take the opportunity to analyse your teaching to see
what has to happen if you are to achieve your goals. Everyone’s ‘natural’ teaching style varies but
you also need to be able to use other teaching styles which are more appropriate to particular
lesson objectives and particular characteristics of the pupils. Thus, building your repertoire of
teaching styles is a necessary part of your professional development. See also Unit 3.2,Task 3.2.9.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this unit, you should:

• understand how teacher behaviour and teaching strategies combine to produce a teaching
style;
• understand the importance of using a range of teaching styles;
• have experimented with different styles of teaching and evaluated their effectiveness.

We suggest you check the competences/standards for your course to see what is required in
the area of teaching styles.

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY A TEACHING STYLE?

Teaching style is the term used to describe the way a learning experience is conducted. It is built
from the behaviour of the teacher and the strategy chosen to ensure that the planned learning
takes place, that the lesson objectives are achieved.Table 5.3.1 illustrates this point.

Table 5.3.1 Defining a teaching style

teaching style = teacher behaviour + teaching strategy

By teacher behaviour we mean the demeanour of the teacher and the way the teacher relates
to pupils; for example, a teacher may choose to be distant, to be more friendly or to convey
enthusiasm for their subject. The teacher indicates their expectations to pupils through their
behaviour when teaching the class.
Teachers also adopt particular forms of behaviour to foster certain types of learning. For
example, the teacher may see themselves as a facilitator of learning in a situation where group
 UNIT 5.3 TEACHING STYLES 269

discussion has been chosen as the teaching method and the teacher’s role is both to help individuals
to contribute fully and to ensure that the group functions effectively. Or the teacher may take the
role of transmitter of knowledge where knowledge acquisition is the desired outcome.
By teaching strategy, we mean the choice and range of teaching methods used for a lesson;
for example, a teaching strategy for a drama lesson might include the methods of individual
enquiry (pupil research), discussion and pupil demonstration. Unit 5.2 provides examples of a
range of methods which might be used when you are devising your teaching strategies.
Discussion, role play, investigational work and demonstration are among the methods from which
a teacher may choose.The method chosen influences decisions about assessment, routines, pupil
grouping, and choice of materials.
In any lesson you are likely to use a range of styles in order to achieve your objectives. It is, for
example, common to start with a didactic style, setting out what is to be done in the lesson, and
then move on to a facilitator/pupil-centred style as pupils tackle the work set, then return to a
more formal style at the end of the lesson to check that the intended learning has taken place.
Precisely defining the teaching style of a particular teacher is a difficult if not impossible task as
in each teaching and learning situation there are many individual variables operating.
Some of the terms often used to describe ways of teaching are: experiential, didactic, chalk and
talk, teacher-directed, pupil-centred, practical, theoretical, traditional, progressive, transmission,
content-based, process-based, whole-class-based. But these are general descriptions which at best
give an indication of how a teacher might conduct a lesson or part of a lesson, and the boundaries
implied between the styles are blurred. On their own, these descriptions provide just part of the
picture of how a teacher teaches. For example, two teachers could both use ‘chalk and talk’ as a
teaching strategy but their behaviour would influence their overall style and thus the pupils’
learning. If one was very formal, the learning of pupils in that class might be more passive than for
pupils of a teacher who was enthusiastic, interested in them and who actively engaged them in the
material.

LEARNING OUTCOMES AND TEACHING STYLE

Teaching styles are chosen to suit the characteristics of the pupils (i.e. their attitudes, abilities,
preferred learning styles) and specifically to help you achieve your lesson objectives. For example,
an ‘instructional’ style is particularly appropriate in achieving certain types of learning – when
you want to develop particular skills such as explaining how a piece of equipment is to be used. It
may not be the most effective approach in other instances, such as learning about colour mixing
in art, which may best be done through practical activities which reinforce the learning taking
place. In choosing objectives for a particular lesson, you need to decide which of a whole range of
potential learning outcomes are to be the focus of the lesson.
The style you choose should be one which best enables those objectives to be realised.Table
5.3.2 provides examples of learning outcomes. These are based on the aspects of achievement
defined later on in Table 6.1.1 (see p. 294). Some people find it convenient to apply the CASK
model to learning outcomes, i.e. learning outcomes are defined as relating to the development of
pupils’ Concepts, Attitudes, Skills or Knowledge.
If you always use a particular style then there is a danger that the learning outcomes for your
pupils may be restricted to a narrow band.Your pupils may be high achievers in one aspect of
achievement but low achievers in another aspect. Of course, pupils do not depend on their
learning in one subject for their overall development; a school needs to ensure that across the
270 HELPING PUPILS LEARN

whole curriculum there are opportunities for pupils to achieve in all of the areas outlined in
Table 5.3.2.

Table 5.3.2 Examples of learning outcomes from a lesson

Aspect 1 Acquisition of knowledge and ability to demonstrate this, e.g. through focusing on knowledge
retention, memorisation, written expression, acquiring theoretical knowledge, individual
achievement.
Aspect 2 Ability to apply knowledge: through developing communication skills, oral skills, investigative
skills, transferability of knowledge, ability to research, organise, select material.
Aspect 3 Increased personal and social skills such as self-confidence, leadership skills, accepting
responsibility, initiative, ability to work with other people.
Aspect 4 Improved attitudes to learning demonstrated through increased motivation, perseverance,
commitment, self-reliance.

Source: Adapted from ILEA, 1984, p. 2.

FACTORS AFFECTING CHOICE OF TEACHING STYLES

As well as taking account of the characteristics of the pupils and the desired learning outcomes,
your choice of teaching style is a matter for your professional judgement. Any judgement you
make about appropriate teaching styles is based on:
• your professional knowledge;
• the environment in which you teach and the resources available;
• your personal qualities.

Extent of your professional (pedagogic) knowledge

This book provides a brief introduction to the body of pedagogic knowledge available (pedagogy
can be defined as the ‘science of teaching’). Teacher education is considered to fall into three
phases: initial teacher education, induction – which is the education and training you are given
during your first year of teaching; and continuing professional development (CPD) – formerly ‘in-
service education and training’ (INSET) – which should be available throughout your teaching
life. See Unit 8.2 for further information on continuing professional development.
Your choice of teaching style is affected by your beliefs, views and assumptions as well as
professional knowledge in, for example, the following areas:

• Your theories of how teachers should teach and how pupils learn. For example,
teachers hold differing views about the place of negotiation in the classroom, appropriate
teacher/pupil interaction, appropriate pupil/pupil interaction, the teacher’s role (purveyor of
knowledge, interpreter of knowledge, facilitator of learning) and the use of questions. Decisions
you make about the balance in your lessons between the process of learning and the content
influence your style. By a ‘process’ approach to teaching and learning, we mean an approach
that focuses on teaching through activities like problem solving, skill-based learning,
experiential learning, role play, simulations, collaboration. At the other end of the spectrum,
content-focused teaching means that mastery of content is the focus and it is achieved through,
 UNIT 5.3 TEACHING STYLES 271

for example, a transmission style, chalk and talk, rote learning or didactic teaching.Your theories
about learning reveal themselves in a number of ways: for example, whether you make subject
matter relevant to pupil experiences and interests, in the variety of resources you use, or in the
way you group the pupils.
• Your approach to classroom management.Your views on maintenance of discipline,
including noise, movement and talk, influence the way you teach (see Unit 3.3).
• Your confidence and competence with the subject matter and with classroom
management affect your behaviour and hence your teaching style.

The environment in which you teach

There are many environmental issues which affect your teaching – physical and mental state of the
pupils, school/department decisions about pupil grouping (setting/streaming/mixed ability), type
and layout of room, and the range and availability of teaching materials and equipment. Resources
are usually limited and you need to adjust to the circumstances in which you find yourself.Two
other influential factors are class size and your assumptions and knowledge about the pupils.

• Class size.There are some government ministers and officials who argue that class size has no
effect on achievement. It is a convenient argument for those who allocate resources to
education as the theory supports the limiting of resources. However, we believe that class size
inevitably influences your choice of teaching style and so affects what can be achieved.
Teaching a large group of pupils where a significant majority are demotivated is not the same
as teaching the same size group of highly motivated pupils. Similarly, developing oral skills in a
class of thirty is a different matter from developing them with a class of six.
• Your assumptions and knowledge about the pupils. Teacher expectations have a
significant effect on pupil self-esteem, motivation and achievement and it is too easy for
teachers to make damaging assumptions about pupils from backgrounds different from their
own.This can lead to discrimination and must be avoided.This can be done by increasing your
knowledge and understanding of the social and cultural influences on the pupils (see Chapter
4, especially Unit 4.4). Educational researchers such as Feuerstein,Vygotsky and Bruner have
written extensively on the impact of social context on learning and their work is referred to in
the texts listed at the end of this unit and Unit 5.1.

Your personal qualities

Your imagination, enthusiasm, energy, and ability to form positive relationships with pupils, as
well as prejudices and assumptions about gender and race all contribute to your classroom
behaviour and thus influence your teaching style. Your communication skills such as body
language, voice and other issues, outlined in Chapter 3, also significantly affect your teaching style.

IDENTIFYING TEACHING STYLES

Findings of research on teaching styles are reported in Table 5.3.3 and the framework used to
analyse styles may provide you with an approach to analysing your own styles.Three broad bands
of style were identified:
272 HELPING PUPILS LEARN

1 closed – which was a more didactic and formal way of teaching with little pupil involvement
in the material of the lesson;

2 framed – where the teacher provided a structure for the lesson within which pupils were able
to contribute their own ideas and interpretations;

3 negotiated – where the direction of the lesson was to a considerable extent dependent on
pupil ideas and contributions.This style may be appropriate, for example, for project work.

Table 5.3.3 Identifying teaching styles

The participation dimension

Closed Framed Negotiated

Content Tightly controlled by Teacher controls the topic, Discussed at each point;
teacher; not negotiable. frames of reference and tasks; joint decisions.
criteria made explicit.

Focus Authoritative knowledge Stress on empirical testing; Search for justification and
and skills; simplified and processes chosen by the principles; strong
monolithic. teacher; some legitimation legitimation of pupil ideas.
of pupil ideas.

Pupils’ role Acceptance; routine Join in teacher’s thinking; Discuss goals and methods
performance; little access make hypotheses, set up critically; share
to principles. tests; operate teacher’s responsibility for frame and
frame. criteria.

Key concepts ‘Authority’: the proper ‘Access to skills’, processes ‘Relevance’: critical
procedures and the right and criteria discussion of pupils’
answers. priorities.

Methods Exposition: worksheets Exposition, with discussion Group and class discussion
(closed); note giving; eliciting suggestions; and decision making about
individual exercises; individual/group problem goals and criteria. Pupils
routine practical work. solving; lists of tasks given; plan and carry out work,
Teacher evaluates. discussion of outcomes, but make presentations,
teacher adjudicates. evaluate success.

Source: Adapted from Barnes et al.,1987, p. 25.

In Table 5.3.3, the choices that teachers make about teaching styles are analysed under the
headings: content, focus, pupils’ role, key concepts and methods.
 UNIT 5.3 TEACHING STYLES 273

Task 5.3.1
PUPIL PARTICIPATION AND TEACHING STYLES

Look at the continuum of styles identified by Barnes et al. in Table 5.3.3:

____________ Closed ______________ Framed _____________ Negotiated _____________

and consider what the level of pupil participation in your lessons is. Check, through discussion with
your tutor or other student teachers, that you understand and would recognise these different styles.
With the agreement of the teacher or student teacher concerned, use the framework provided by
the table to analyse the teaching styles in some lessons or parts of lessons which you are observing.

Mosston’s continuum of teaching styles

Mosston and Ashworth (1994) carried out careful analytical work on teaching styles and their
ideas are worthy of much more detailed consideration than is possible here. They define the
components of different teaching styles in considerable detail and use a framework (the ‘anatomy
of a teaching style’) as a basis for analysis and comparison for each one.Table 5.3.4 provides a brief
outline of the styles they define. Like Barnes et al., they see these styles as being part of a
continuum – moving from teacher-controlled and directed learning experiences through to more
independent learning.
Mosston and Ashworth describe the links between ‘teaching behaviour, learning behaviour
and the objectives of each style’ – the T-L-O approach to use their terms.They point out that there
are two aspects to objectives: intended objectives and the actual objectives observed. They also
describe in detail the decisions made by teacher and learner during three phases of learning: pre-
impact (‘preparation’), impact (‘execution and performance’) and post-impact (or ‘evaluation’
which is ongoing throughout the lesson). A number of the styles above require the teacher to
teach the pupils the style of learning they are expected to be undertaking. Developing such
awareness on the part of the pupils can be seen as one of the objectives for learning.

Task 5.3.2
MOSSTON’S CONTINUUM OF TEACHING STYLES

Consider Mosston’s continuum as described in Table 5.3.4. Think back to a recent lesson you
taught which did not go as well as you had planned. Was the dominant teaching style you used
the most suitable, i.e. did it achieve the objectives of the lesson? How else could you have tackled
the lesson material? Discuss Mosston’s work with other student teachers. Are his categories useful
in providing you with alternative approaches? If not, why not?
274 HELPING PUPILS LEARN

Table 5.3.4 Mosston’s continuum of teaching styles

The command style This style is often described as autocratic or teacher-centred. It is appropriate in
certain contexts, e.g. teaching safe use of equipment, learning particular routines in dance.
The practice style Whilst similar to the command style, there is a shift in decision making to pupils
and there is more scope with this style for the teacher to work with individuals whilst the group are
occupied with practice tasks, such as writing for a purpose in English or practising skills in mathematics.
The reciprocal style The pupils work in pairs evaluating each other’s performance. Each partner is
actively involved – one as the ‘doer’ and one observing, as the ‘teacher partner’. The teacher works with
the ‘teacher partner’ to improve their evaluative and feedback skills. This style provides increased
possibilities for the ‘partner’ to improve their evaluative and feedback skills. It provides increased
possibilities for ‘interaction and communication among students’ and can be applied when pupils are
learning a foreign language or learning routines in gymnastics. Pupils learn to judge performance against
criteria.
The self-check style This style is designed to develop the learner’s ability to evaluate their own
performance. The teacher sets the tasks and the pupils evaluate their performance against criteria and set
new goals in collaboration with the teacher. All pupils start at the same level and move up when the
teacher deems them ready.
The inclusion style In this style, differentiated tasks are included to ensure that all pupils gain some
feeling of success and so develop positive self-concepts – for example, if an angled bar is provided for high
jump practice, all pupils can succeed as they choose the height over which to jump. They decide at what
level to start.
Guided discovery Mosston sees this as one of the most difficult styles. The teacher plans the pupil’s
learning programme on the basis of the level of cognitive development of the learner. The teacher then
guides the pupil to find the answer – reframing the question and task if necessary. Pupils with special
educational needs are often taught in small groups and this approach might be used by the teacher to
develop an individualised learning programme for each pupil.
Divergent style The learners are encouraged to find alternative solutions to a problem, e.g. in
approaching a design problem in art.
The individual programme: learner’s design The knowledge and skills needed to participate in this
method of learning depend on the building-up of skills and self-knowledge in earlier learning
experiences. A pupil designs and carries out a programme of work within a framework agreed and
monitored by the teacher. Pupils carrying out open-ended investigations in science provide an example of
this style.
Learners’ initiated style This style is more pupil-directed than the previous style where the teacher
provided a framework. At this point on the continuum, the stimulus for learning comes primarily from
the pupil not wholly from the teacher. The pupil actively initiates the learning experience. Giving
homework which allows pupils freedom to work on their own areas of interest in their own way would
fall into this category. The teacher acts in a supportive role.
Self-teaching style This style describes independent learning without external support. For example, it
is the type of learning that adults undergo as they learn from their own experiences.

Source: Adapted from Mosston and Ashworth, 1994.

ANALYSING YOUR TEACHING STYLE

One of our student teachers, who carried out an analysis to establish the level of her interaction
with pupils during a lesson, found that over a twenty-minute period she spent only about ninety
seconds supporting the work of individual pupils (there were twenty-three pupils in the class). For
most of the rest of the time she was addressing the class as a whole.What surprised her was that she
had intended her lesson to be much more pupil-centred and thought she had gone some way to
achieving that. Unit 5.4 gives examples of ways in which you can evaluate your work.This student
used another student to observe and record interactions. An observation sheet was used which
required the observer to note every five seconds whether the teacher/pupil interaction was at a
group level, an individual level or a whole class level. Such observation sheets need to be designed
with the particular purpose in mind. Recording every five seconds is rather too often for some
purposes but it worked in this case as the observer had to remember only three codes:

G – group I – individual W – whole class.

Table 5.3.5 shows the format these students used.

Table 5.3.5 An observation grid

Time (mins) Type of interaction (G = group, I = individual, W = whole class) at five-second intervals

5 G G G G G G G W W W W W
6 W W W G G G I G G G I I

Task 5.3.3
ANALYSING ASPECTS OF YOUR TEACHING STYLE

Arrange for another student teacher to observe two of your lessons where you try out contrasting
styles. Ask them to focus on particular aspects of your work which interest you, e.g. the use of
open-ended questions or giving praise. You probably need to devise your own observation
schedules to record the findings. In the discussion afterwards you may find it useful to answer the
following questions. Did you achieve your objectives? How successful were you in varying your
teaching style? What factors influenced your success? How could you have done things differently?
What could you try next? If you can repeat this exercise regularly, you will build up your repertoire
of styles and your responsiveness to changing classroom situations.

SUMMARY AND KEY POINTS

In this unit, we have tried to identify factors that influence teaching style and asked you
deliberately to structure some lessons in ways which allow you to explore factors influencing
276 HELPING PUPILS LEARN

your teaching style. Acquiring knowledge of different teaching strategies and becoming
aware of your own behaviour in the classroom are two steps on the ladder to effectiveness.
However, you need to move from knowing about how these aspects influence teaching style
to being able to apply this professional knowledge to your classroom teaching so that
effective learning can take place. Applying a reflective approach to your teaching helps you
develop your skills. The following unit, 5.4 ‘Improving your teaching’, provides details of
reflective strategies which will help you in the further analysis of aspects of your own
teaching.

FURTHER READING

Coles, M.J. and Robinson, W.D. (1991) Teaching Thinking: A Survey of Programmes in Education (2nd
edn), Bristol: Bristol Press.
This is a book which will challenge your views about what you should teach and how you should
teach it. It describes a number of Thinking Skills/Critical Thinking programmes in the UK, as
well as discussing international developments, such as the Philosophy for Children programme
which was started in the USA by Mathew Lipman, and Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment
programme which originated in Israel.
Dennison, B. and Kirk, R. (1990) Do, Review, Learn, Apply: A Simple Guide to Experiential Learning,
Oxford: Blackwell Education.
This is a very practical book. It includes an introduction to the theory supporting the experiential
learning approach as well as a host of ideas and practical activities which may be used in experiential
learning situations.
Dockrell, J. and McShane, J. (1999) Children’s Learning Difficulties – A Cognitive Approach, Oxford:
Blackwell.
This book addresses the question ‘What impedes a child’s progress in acquiring new knowledge?’
It takes difficulties with language, reading and numbers in turn and describes strategies for assessing
learning difficulties as well as what they call ‘ a cognitive frame of reference’ for the understanding
of learning difficulties.
Fisher, R. (1995) Teaching Children to Learn, Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes.
This text, following Robert Fisher’s work on thinking skills, focuses on current issues such as
questioning, discussing, cognitive mapping, divergent thinking, co-operate learning, coaching,
reviewing and creating a learning environment. Again, it is full of ideas which can help you as a
teacher perform more effectively.
Jarvis. P., Holford, J. and Griffin, C. (1998) The Theory and Practice of Learning, London: Kogan Page.
This text provides a useful summary of a wide range of different theories of learning and approaches
to the organisation of learning which are appropriate in different contexts. You are recommended
to read this to gain an overview of the different theories that exist.
Joyce, B., Calhoun, E. and Weil, M. (1999) Models of Teaching (6th edn), Boston and London: Allyn
and Bacon.
Joyce and Weil identify models of teaching and group them into four ‘families’ which represent
different philosophies about how humans learn. This is a comprehensive text designed for those
who have knowledge of teaching and learning issues. See also Mager, below.
 UNIT 5.3 TEACHING STYLES 277

Mager, R. (1997) Preparing Instructional Objectives – A Critical Tool in the Development of Effect Instruction
(3rd edn), London: Kogan Page.
Mager provides a transatlantic perspective on training. He has written many books around the
theme of goal-setting and teaching techniques. Although this book is focused on skills-based
objectives, nevertheless the exercises in it will help you develop your skills in setting objectives.
McGuiness, C. (1999) From Thinking Skills to Thinking Classrooms: A Review and Evaluation of
Approaches for Developing Pupils’ Thinking, London: DfEE.
Mosston, M. and Ashworth, S. (1994) Teaching Physical Education (4th edn), New York: Macmillan
College Publishing.
This text describes a continuum of teaching styles. Although written for physical education
teachers, the styles described are applicable to different extents in all subjects.