A Teaching Styles Typology of Practicing Teachers

Abstract

This study describes a typology of the teaching styles of practicing teachers. Teaching style refers to a teacher’s distinct qualities that are persistent from situation to situation regardless of the content. The Teaching Style Assessment Scale, which measures teaching style, was completed by 1,261 nursing faculty in Japan. Prior cluster analysis revealed four naturally-occurring groups based on their teaching style, with teachers practicing learner-centered and teacher-centered styles nearly equally. The dual purposes of this study were (1) to measure the differences between these groups to determine if they were unique and (2) to describe any teaching style differences among these groups. Analysis of variance and Scheffé descriptive statistics supported the conclusion that a typology exists for classifying teaching styles as they are practiced in the field by teachers. Discriminant analysis identified the distinctions among the groups. The four distinct groups clearly described in this Teaching Styles Typology of Practicing Teachers are Distinctly Teacher-Centered, Moderately Teacher-Centered, Consistently Learner-Centered, and Decidedly Learner-Centered. This typology of teaching styles can be a valuable tool for teachers to improve their professional practice. It has implications for increased professionalism by facilitating increased self-awareness and assisting in developing an educational philosophy.