This style can be described in two ways. One is based on the teacher
leading an exercise or a skill while the students follow. Then there
is also the teacher (or designate) providing direct instructions which
the students immediately follow. This teaching style is very effective,
efficient, and safe especially when the skill being learned has the ability
to be broken down into smaller parts. For example, the various grips used
in squash will be taught using the command style as they are easily learned
and basic skills.
The teachers role with this style is to provide a demonstration of a
skill or task followed by a individual or small group session. It
provides the student with the opportunity to individually and privately
make decisions, while the teacher can offer feedback in a personal and
direct manner. This style works well with squash as it is an individual
sport, and in a grade ten class skill level will vary and ,therefore it
allows students to practice skills at their own ability level. A
skill such as the "squash serve" could effectively be taught using this
style, as it would allow the student to individually explore and practice
the skill. In the meantime the teacher would be observing and providing
corrective feedback to the students. One way to allow for different abilities
while practicing the same skill would be to change the ball or racket being
used.
The purpose of this style lies in the individual student themselves.
This style not only allows students to work in partners, but gives them
the opportunity to give constructive feedback to their peer during the
skill practice of a lesson. It designates one student as the "doer"
and the other as the "observer." It also relieves the pressure of teacher
observation that is quite often a problem with students who are unfamiliar
with a sport such as squash.. The "observer" watches the "doer's"
performance and based on the criteria sheet for the skill, given by the
teacher will give performance feedback. While the students are fulfilling
their roles, it gives the teacher the chance to circulate, and only if
necessary, (safety concerns) communicate with the "observer." If
the teacher were to communicate with both students the teaching style would
be compromised. Some other great parts of this style is that it promotes
social interaction on a specific educational task as well as further social
bonds with peers.
Self-Check style allows the student to choose the tasks that they want
to do. Once a task is chosen, they must decide their entry level capability,
and be able to feel comfortable starting at that point. The student
also has to practice comparing, contrasting, and drawing conclusions to
analyze their own performance level. The teacher prepares the variety
of subject matter and criteria based on the material covered in class.
In class, the teacher observes everyone for organization, safety and then
gives feedback to individual students. The student is given a task
card describing all the activities, their progressions to choose from,
and ways of evaluating if they can advance to another task. This
style will often could be used when the students are circulating through
practice stations.
Inclusion style creates an environment where everyone can be included
into the activity or task. This style allows for multiple levels
of difficulty by allowing students to work within a progression themselves
and choose to work on the skill that they feel they should. This
way all students with varying levels of ability will be able to work on
the progression.
The purpose of this style is for students to discover a concept
by answering a sequence of questions given by the teacher. The teacher
guides the students to discover the one correct answer by asking a chain
of questions with a predictable chain of answers that lead to the final
concept. Convergent style is very closely tied into this style and it will
sometimes be used where guided discovery is planned to be used if the students
seem like they could handle it. The specific chains of questions can not
be designed for guided discover opportunity in the unit ahead of time,
however, there are some possible lists of questions in the lesson plans
and task progressions.
The convergent style also involves the discovery of a single pre-planned
concept. The difference is that it only involves asking one question and
allowing the student to come up with the necessary line of thinking to
arrive at the concept. An example could be, "why is it so important that
players return to the "T" after they make a shot?". Intending for the discovery
of the principle of being in the best position to get any shot.
The divergent style involves asking a question which will have many
correct responses. The divergent style will be used to help students make
rules for games to make them playable on their own and in the given context.