“Getting the Tip of the Pen on the Paper”: How the Spectrum of Teaching Styles Narrows the Gap Between the Hope and the Happening

Author(s):  
Brendan SueSee ◽  
Shane Pill ◽  
Michael Davies ◽  
John Williams

Purpose: In response to the limitations with what has been termed a “traditional” Physical Education method, in the last decade Models-Based Practice (MBP) has emerged as an alternative. However, these limitations were recognized by Mosston in 1966 and from which The Spectrum of Teaching Styles (The Spectrum) was presented as a means toward a more obvious educative focus in Physical Education. We propose that The Spectrum provides a bridge between the hope and happening of MBP suggested by Casey and colleagues. Method: Using a qualitative narrative approach, we construct a fictional discussion between two academics (one from a country with centralized, mandated curriculum and one without) through which to navigate the mythical island of quality Physical Education in order to analytically frame The Spectrum and the “happening” of teacher’s implementation of MBP. Use of a fictional dialogue as a qualitative instrument enabled us to be provocative through the posing of questions in a novel fashion. Results: We suggest adopting a nonversus perspective reorients the view of model fidelity and, The Spectrum provides the “how” or micropedagogies to close the gap between the “hope” and the “happening.” Conclusion: This conversation is timely considering reservations about the successfulness of “second-generation” MBP exist in the literature and evidence of the continuation of the historically common Physical Education method despite its well-recognized limitations.

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
Fernanda Buonome El Khouri ◽  
Cassio De Miranda Meira Junior ◽  
Graciele Massoli Rodrigues ◽  
Maria Luiza De Jesus Miranda

The influential Mosston’s Spectrum of Teaching Styles is a guide to teaching decisions in Physical Education. This highly researched topic has been tested in many contexts so that our focus is centered on the type of skill during motor skill acquisition in physical education settings. Given that the tasks employed in the studies have been either specialized or manipulative fundamental skills, we sought to extend our understanding of the issue addressing the effects of teaching styles in the process of learning a stability fundamental skill. Our purpose was to examine motor and psychological effects of command and guided discovery teaching styles from Mosston's Spectrum in the acquisition and retention of the handstand in scholars. Third graders from a suburban school in Sao Paulo, Brazil, were assigned to a command (n=22) and a guided discovery (n=23) group. The process of learning the handstand lasted six acquisition sessions, carried out between a pretest and a posttest/retention. We used as dependent variables the motor developmental level (initial, elementary and mature), the movement ratings (scores from 0 to 10) and the motivation levels (post-learning self-reported subscales from the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory). The guided discovery teaching style led more scholars to reach the mature developmental stage of the handstand on retention compared to the command teaching style. No group differences were detected with respect to ratings or intrinsic motivation. Regardless of the group, the pretest ratings were lower than the posttest ones as well as boys scored higher in pressure and tension subscale as compared to girls. The current findings suggest that both teaching styles promoted motor acquisition, but the guided discovery teaching style seemed to yield superior handstand retention.


1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-34
Author(s):  
Bik C. CHOW

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in English; abstract also in Chinese.The author summarizes the theory of the Mosston's Spectrum of Teaching styles which is based on the amount of decisions given to students. Researches in the past ten years on the Spectrum are then reviewed. The author presents practical examples on three teaching styles of the production cluster. The intent of this article is to stimulate physical education teachers to adopt teaching styles for those goals gearing for developing students' cognitive thinking and problem solving ability.本文作者簡單介紹『摩斯登體育敎學光譜』的理論,指出不同敎學風格取決於敎師給予學生多少決策權。作者亦綜合過往十年有關光譜理論之研究 及應用,列舉生產群集的三項敎學風格例子,希望體育敎師於啟發學生思考及創造力為敎學目標的課堂上,能夠嘗試採用。


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-146
Author(s):  
Burhan Parsak ◽  
Leyla Saraç

Objective: The objectives of this study were to (a) identify Turkish middle-school physical education teachers’ self-reported use and perceptions of spectrum teaching styles, (b) determine the spectrum teaching styles the teachers use when teaching, and (c) examine whether gender and teaching experience were differentiating factors. Method: A convenience sample of 58 female and 62 male teachers working in 86 different middle schools located in Adana (Turkey) were recruited into the study. The data were collected using two validated instruments: the Physical Education Teachers’ Use of Teaching Styles and Perceptions of Styles Questionnaire, and the Instrument for Identifying Teaching Styles. Results: The findings based on the teachers’ reported perceptions (questionnaire data) revealed that the teachers employed the full spectrum of teaching styles in their classes, ranging from teacher centered to student centered, regardless of their gender or level of teaching experience. However, the data based on actual observations of teaching styles yielded less evidence that the self-reported styles were used in actual teaching settings. The teachers’ perceptions and their actual use of teaching styles did not vary according to the gender and/or teaching experience of the teacher. Conclusion: There is a discrepancy between teachers’ self-reported teaching styles and the actual use of the styles in their teaching.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
Fernanda Buonome El Khouri ◽  
Cassio de Miranda Meira Junior ◽  
Graciele Massoli Rodrigues ◽  
Maria Luiza de Jesus Miranda

The influential Mosston’s Spectrum of Teaching Styles is a guide to teaching decisions in Physical Education. This highly researched topic has been tested in many contexts so that our focus is centered on the type of skill during motor skill acquisition in physical education settings. Given that the tasks employed in the studies have been either specialized or manipulative fundamental skills, we sought to extend our understanding of the issue addressing the effects of teaching styles in the process of learning a stability fundamental skill. Our purpose was to examine motor and psychological effects of command and guided discovery teaching styles from Mosston's Spectrum in the acquisition and retention of the handstand in scholars. Third graders from a suburban school in Sao Paulo, Brazil, were assigned to a command (n=22) and a guided discovery (n=23) group. The process of learning the handstand lasted six acquisition sessions, carried out between a pretest and a posttest/retention. We used as dependent variables the motor developmental level (initial, elementary and mature), the movement ratings (scores from 0 to 10) and the motivation levels (post-learning self-reported subscales from the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory). The guided discovery teaching style led more scholars to reach the mature developmental stage of the handstand on retention compared to the command teaching style. No group differences were detected with respect to ratings or intrinsic motivation. Regardless of the group, the pretest ratings were lower than the posttest ones as well as boys scored higher in pressure and tension subscale as compared to girls. The current findings suggest that both teaching styles promoted motor acquisition, but the guided discovery teaching style seemed to yield superior handstand retention.


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