Background/Purpose Over the years, Mosston's spectrum of teaching styles (STS) has played a crucial role in fostering and developing students' teaching strategies and skills in physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. The STS-based PETE programs have proved to be effective in preparing and developing teachers' ability of teaching (Ashworth, 1992; Byra, 1999). This study investigated how student teachers (ST) perceived and employed the STS and examined if they differed by class classification.
Method Participants were 65 ST [31 graduate students (GSs) and 34 undergraduate students (USs)] enrolled in STS-based teaching methods courses in a PETE program. An adapted version of Ashworth's Spectrum of Teaching Style Inventory (STSI, 2008) was used to collect data. The STSI requires participants to respond to three statements for each of the 11 STS on 5-point scales, respectively.
Analysis/Results Descriptive statistics revealed participants self-reported on using the STS were: Command (M = 3.80), Practice (M = 3.77), Inclusion (M = 3.41), Reciprocal (M = 3.29), Divergent (M = 3.00), etc. Results of independent samples t-tests showed: the GSs scored significant higher (p < .05) on using Learner-initiated style than those of the USs; to the rest ten styles, the participants employed them in a very similar way; regarding the perception of the STS, the GSs scored significantly higher (p < .05) than the USs in eight styles.
Conclusions The GSs were more likely to report the use of Learner-initiated styles than the USs. This result suggests ST educational experiences might be related to their perceptions and use of the STS.