Hi, this blog is the 10th out of a series of 12 blogs that explain Mosston & Ashworth's Spectrum of Teaching Styles. Today we (Alba and Risto) will talk about Style I-the Lerner-Designed Individual Program Style. This blog is based on episode 266 of the podcast Playing with Research in Health and Physical Education. This blog is almost verbatim from the podcast, so if you prefer the audio version, here is the link for episode 266. You can also listen to the first episodes of this series in the following links #254, #255, #257, #259, #260, #261, #262, #263, #264 or read the first nine blogs #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, and #9. All of the podcasts are listed by category on a google doc that you can find as the pinned tweet on the account @theHPEpodcast on Twitter. Alternatively, you can find it here. You can find the website where you can download the book for free and find more information and resources at the end of this blog.
The Lerner-Designed Individual Program Style is student-centered, and learners take over many of the important decisions in their learning experience. This means that the learner will decide the objectives, procedures, and assessment of their learning experience on a specific topic that is chosen by the teacher.
Let’s start with an example. The teacher selects the topic of non-traditional games. Instead of the teacher choosing one specific game and teaching that to the learners, the teacher has students research non-traditional games that they can practice outside of school. The students will be responsible for designing their own individual programs on non-traditional games. To do so, they will decide how they will engage with the topic. They can decide to first look for places where they can practice a game in their neighborhood and decide if the game is to be played alone, with their friends, or with family. Students can find out how to get or make equipment if needed. The students will have to plan how they will learn the concepts and the skills of the game, how they will assess their progress, and how the teacher will support them in the process. So, the teacher sets expectations and chooses a general topic, most of the other decisions are made by the learners.
The characteristic that defines the Lerner-Designed Individual Program Style is the independence that students have to discover a structure to solve an issue or problem.
In the anatomy of this style, the role of the teacher is to choose the general subject matter logistical decisions for the learners. This means that the teacher is responsible for the pre-impact set, so, the planning of the learning experience. So, the teacher chooses the general subject matter, that is the topic that the learners will be assigned to engage with and introduces the new expectations to the students. The expectation of the teacher in this style (that should be explained at the beginning of the learning experience) is that learners will develop independent learning experiences.
In the impact set, so during lessons, the teacher explains the topic and expectations and stays available to interact and support learners as they need and request.
After the activity, in the post-impact set, the teacher continues to be available to listen to students, ask and answer questions and provide feedback about the students’ content involvement and decision-making process.
So, the learners take multiple roles in the Lerner-Designed Individual Program Style, they are responsible for designing their learning program by making behavior and logistical decisions such as:
Deciding how they will investigate the topic,
Producing questions to identify the process and procedures to solve problems,
Choosing the performance criteria. Meaning that they decide how to assess their performance.
And deciding how they will keep the teacher informed of their plans and progress.
When the behavior of the Learner-Designed Individual Program Style is achieved, the subject matter objectives reached are to:
have the students discover, create, and organize ideas by developing subject matter of complex issues over an extended period of time,
and engage in a systematic process of exploring, examining, and assessing a specific topic.
The behavior objectives are to:
allow students to experience increased independence by accommodating their individual ways of thinking and performing tasks to solve problems,
encourage learners to exercise perseverance and tenacity,
and provide self-directed opportunities.
The topic selected by the teacher can be complex such as the example mentioned above in which the learners would research a non-traditional game that they could play outside of school.
In the non-traditional game example, the students should not only learn a game but actually investigate their community and the possibilities of practicing the non-traditional game during non-school hours. However, if this is the first time that the learners will engage in a teaching style such as the Learner-Designed Individual Program style that requires a lot of student independence, it’s probably best to start with a simpler topic.
For example, the teacher can have students research the sport of cricket before the start of a fielding games unit. The learners will design their individual cricket program to learn about the game before playing it in PE. They will decide how they will engage with the topic, if they will learn about the history, look for curiosities, research the main teams and championships, and investigate the rules, the skills needed, tactics, and gameplay. In this case, the individual program is to learn about cricket. Since the topic is related to one sport and the theoretical part of that sport, the individual program of cricket can be confined to a shorter investigation that does not take as much time to complete.
It is important to note that teaching through the Learner-Designed Individual Program style does not mean that the learners can do whatever they want. This style takes a highly disciplined approach that focuses on developing the cognitive and creative capacities of each learner. It has to do with examining a topic or a problem to discover its components, their relationships, and the possibilities of ordering or sequencing these components. This means that the student will not just learn facts but also identify categories, analyze the information learned, and construct a plan related to the topic at hand. So, the learners will have to use all the skills that have been developed in the previous styles of teaching.
Also, in the Learner-Designed Individual Program style, the teacher is not passive or absent from the lesson and learners do not work in isolation. Rather, the Learner-Designed Individual Program style requires a strong communication bond, the teacher constantly reassures and guides the learners’ individual-designed process of learning. This means that the student keeps the teacher informed and the teacher observes how the students are thinking and making decisions.
This style can be used in any age group. However, students who do not know or have experience in the content area proposed by the teacher or with the process of discovery will not be able to engage in this style of teaching very productively. Additionally, the Learner-Designed Individual Program style requires time to be applied in a series of lessons to allow students to immerse themselves in the process of discovering, creating, and organizing ideas.
Once again, the teacher has to have patience. The learners have a lot of decisions to make in the Learner-Designed Individual Program style and this takes time, especially the first time that this style is being used.
The communication style in the Learner-Designed Individual Program style is mostly guided by questions rather than statements. So, when the teacher observes any discrepancies or desires to communicate insights to the students, they do so using questions and not imposing comments, directions, or randomly giving feedback. Only after learners have made their own assessment will it be appropriate for the teacher to provide value or corrective feedback comments.
That’s all we have for you on this one. Once again, I encourage you to download the book …it is free. You can find great examples of how the spectrum is applied in PE and resources that can help you successfully integrate the different styles of teaching in your classes. We have two more styes to explain and those will be coming out in the next two weeks.
Thanks for reading!
Alba and Risto
For more resources see below:
Full Cite: Mosston, M., & Ashworth, S. (2008). Teaching physical education: First online edition, 2008. https://spectrumofteachingstyles.org/index.php?id=16
Visit: https://www.spectrumofteachingstyles.org
Twitter: @spectrumots