Page 205 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Contemporary European Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 205
the relationship between teachers’ teaching styles, students’ engagement ...
These specific psychological and behavioural structures created by
teachers within the classroom are commonly defined as teachers’ teaching
style. Teaching style is referred to as a predilection to teaching behaviour
and congruence between an educator’s teaching beliefs and their teaching
behaviours (Heimlich & Norland, 1994). Conti (1985; 2004) describes it as
persistent and distinct qualities a teacher displays in the classroom. It is
also defined as a pervasive quality in an educator’s teaching that persists
even when the content changes (Fisher & Fisher, 1979). Teaching style de-
fines behaviours or actions that teachers exhibit in the teaching process.
Teaching behaviours reflect the beliefs and values teachers hold about the
role of the teacher and the learner in the learning exchange (Heimlich &
Norland, 2002). Teaching style is not only the teaching method itself but
something larger that relates to the entire teaching-learning exchange, re-
gardless of the environment or content of teaching (Heimlich & Norland,
2002).
We can find different typologies of teaching styles in the literature
(e.g. Bennett, 1976; Flanders, 1970; Good, 1979). Schultz (1982), for example,
stressed the difference between a directive and a non-directive approach to
teaching. Grasha (1996) identified five potential approaches/roles of teach-
ers in the classroom (Expert, Formal Authority, Personal Model, Facilitator
and Delegator). Deriving from the constructivist view of learning, a “learn-
er-centred approach” has been advocated in the last few decades (Zophy,
1982; McCombs & Whistler, 1997; Weimer, 2002; Pillay, 2002). Based on the
literature on teaching styles, Dupin-Bryant (2004) defines a learner-cen-
tred teaching style as responsive, collaborative, problem-centred and dem-
ocratic in which both students and the teacher decide how, what and when
learning occurs. On the other hand, a teacher-centred teaching style is de-
fined as formal, controlled and autocratic in which the teacher directs how,
what and when students learn. Behar-Horenstein (2006) defined teaching
styles’ beliefs across two domains (teacher-centred and student-centred)
and four subdomains (methods of instruction, classroom milieu, use of
questioning, and use of assessment). Some researchers also tried to com-
pare teaching styles with parenting styles (e.g. Barnas, 2001; Walker, 2009;
Wentzel, 2002). They detected the authoritative, authoritarian and permis-
sive teaching styles.
In this article, we focus on the role teachers and their teaching styles
play in developing students’ self-efficacy, attitude to school work, learning,
knowledge and academic achievements which represent potential protective
205
These specific psychological and behavioural structures created by
teachers within the classroom are commonly defined as teachers’ teaching
style. Teaching style is referred to as a predilection to teaching behaviour
and congruence between an educator’s teaching beliefs and their teaching
behaviours (Heimlich & Norland, 1994). Conti (1985; 2004) describes it as
persistent and distinct qualities a teacher displays in the classroom. It is
also defined as a pervasive quality in an educator’s teaching that persists
even when the content changes (Fisher & Fisher, 1979). Teaching style de-
fines behaviours or actions that teachers exhibit in the teaching process.
Teaching behaviours reflect the beliefs and values teachers hold about the
role of the teacher and the learner in the learning exchange (Heimlich &
Norland, 2002). Teaching style is not only the teaching method itself but
something larger that relates to the entire teaching-learning exchange, re-
gardless of the environment or content of teaching (Heimlich & Norland,
2002).
We can find different typologies of teaching styles in the literature
(e.g. Bennett, 1976; Flanders, 1970; Good, 1979). Schultz (1982), for example,
stressed the difference between a directive and a non-directive approach to
teaching. Grasha (1996) identified five potential approaches/roles of teach-
ers in the classroom (Expert, Formal Authority, Personal Model, Facilitator
and Delegator). Deriving from the constructivist view of learning, a “learn-
er-centred approach” has been advocated in the last few decades (Zophy,
1982; McCombs & Whistler, 1997; Weimer, 2002; Pillay, 2002). Based on the
literature on teaching styles, Dupin-Bryant (2004) defines a learner-cen-
tred teaching style as responsive, collaborative, problem-centred and dem-
ocratic in which both students and the teacher decide how, what and when
learning occurs. On the other hand, a teacher-centred teaching style is de-
fined as formal, controlled and autocratic in which the teacher directs how,
what and when students learn. Behar-Horenstein (2006) defined teaching
styles’ beliefs across two domains (teacher-centred and student-centred)
and four subdomains (methods of instruction, classroom milieu, use of
questioning, and use of assessment). Some researchers also tried to com-
pare teaching styles with parenting styles (e.g. Barnas, 2001; Walker, 2009;
Wentzel, 2002). They detected the authoritative, authoritarian and permis-
sive teaching styles.
In this article, we focus on the role teachers and their teaching styles
play in developing students’ self-efficacy, attitude to school work, learning,
knowledge and academic achievements which represent potential protective
205
