Teaching Styles

There are lots of different styles of teaching that can appeal to different learner’s needs and add variety to the lesson. Using one teaching style can become tedious, mix it up.

Command
You are the main focus of the group while explaining and demonstrating the skill to students for the first time. You explain, demonstrate, execute and evaluate.

Benefits

• Works well with children since setting safety boundaries and controlling the group is important.
• Works well when introducing a skill for the first time.

Task
You step back and watch the students performing the activity. You are free to provide feedback and make the sure the students are performing the task correctly. With children boundaries are very important, set clear starting and stopping points.

Benefits

• Stepping back allows you time to watch and give feedback.
• Effective when developing new skills or working on very specfic movements.

Reciprocal
You pair students up, with one student as the performer and one as the observer. Give the performer a specific activity and ask the observer to look for a specific movement or outcome. Follow up with relevant questioning to help anchor learning.

Benefits

• Takes focus off the instructor and frees them up to work with individuals
• Works well to enhance understanding and practice skills in a new and different way
• Works best with school-age children or teens
• Performers get specific, personal feedback

Drawbacks

• Not a good way to present new learning because students need a baseline of knowledge before they can teach each other.
• If the focus is too obscure, the exercise will not be successful.

Guided-discovery
You take students through a range of activities that lead them to self-revelation about a concept or skill. There is only one right answer. The teacher does not tell the answer: s/he waits for the student’s response and reinforces that response.  Arrange questions, clues, or outcomes (tasks) in a sequence designed to lead the student to the answer. With each step must buliding on the previous step.

Benefits

• Students better understand and remember the answer if they’ve discovered it.
• Can work well with a group of beginners, “First try leaning far forward, then far backward, Find out where the best balance point is on your skis.

Drawbacks

• Watch the clock. If time is running out, the teacher should give the answer before letting the class go.
• If used exclusively it can become tedious and cause frustration
• Guided discovery is not an effective way to teach specific skills or to handle a group of demanding learners. It is too time-consuming and might not show results that are specific enough for this type of learner.
• Can be annoying and frustrating to students if the lesson plan is poorly crafted.

Problem-solving
You set up a situation and ask the students to work through the problem and report the answers. There can be several acceptable answers/outcomes to one problem

Benefits

• The freedom to make choices helps students understand their decision-making and develop confidence in their actions.

Drawbacks

• You need time to explore the problem and possible answers
• Make sure students have enough background and experience to focus on solving the problem  

Sources
“Teaching and Learning Styles” by Joan Heaton, PSIA Alpine Manual (1996)