Partners and peer observers--the reciprocal style of teaching.

Thomson, William C.

William C. Thomson, EdD, Longwood University, Department of Health, Athletic Training, Recreation, & Kinesiology

There are many approaches to teaching skills and strategies in Physical Education, and our literature is rich with descriptions of these varied methodologies. One writer in particular, Muska Mosston, notably contributed to Physical Education^ body of literature with his detailed descriptions of the characteristics of various teaching methods. In categorizing these "Styles of Teaching" the strengths and weaknesses of each metaod of teaching a physical education lesson were analyzed. Mosston's analyses showed that for any style a teacher might choose, certain aspects or possibilities of the teaching-learning situation were facilitated while other cspects were diminished. In other words, there are always strengths and weaknesses inherent in any teaching strategy (Mosston & Ashworth, 1994; Mosston & Ashworth, 2002). Table 1 displays a listing of the styles and a brief descriptiva characteristic of each one.

This is the third article en a series which offers insight into each of the Teaching Styles. The first article in this series provided background information regarding the Spectrum of Teaching Styles, and a description of how the first style--Style A, or the Command Style--is used. The second article discussed the next of the Teaching Styles along the continuum--Style B, the Practice Style. Practical examples and suggestions regarding how Style B can be used in ids' main form and how it is typically combined with the Style A were also included. This article will describe the characteristics, possibilities, and limitations inherent when students work in partnership with their peers. This Teaching Style known as the Reciprocal Style (Style C).

Limitations and solutions

As noted, an interesting aspect of the Mosston's so-called Spectrum of Teaching Styles is that quite often a weakness in one style is addressed by a strength in the next style along the continuum. For example, a weakness of the Command (A) Style is that there is little or no opportunity for the teacher or leader to provide performance feedback to the students because s/he is constantly giving

"commands" (Thomson, 2009). The essence of the Practice (B) Style is that; the teacher/leader gives one command (e.g., "Begin") and then the students perform the designated activity at their own pace. Freed from giving constant movement cues, the instructor is able to circulate around the teaching area and give feedback to his/her students. However, in a large class it is difficult for one person to give timely feedback to all students. How long might it take for a teacher to go from student to student among 25-30 students, giving corrective feedback and watching further additional attempts of a skill? Obviously, the need to provide students timely feedback is important, and it is Style C which provides a way of facilitating this.

Style C - The Reciprocal Style

As in Styles A and B, this style begins with a teacher giving some kind of instruction in the performance of a particular skill.

A teacher or a competent student would demonstrate the correct technique of that skill, or perhaps a short video could be shown to the class. During the demonstration, the teacher will, of course, make sure the students are aware of the important skill cues for performing the task, indentifying crucial features of the task. S/he may also indicate what constitutes "success" in this task (Mosston & Ashworth, 2002). In Style C, the teacher is quite likely also to check for understanding by doing some number of demonstrations that include common errors, asking students to identify the errors and give appropriate feedback. This ability to distinguish correct from incorrect technique is critical to this style. Why? Because this style coincides with the ability of the students to provide constructive feedback to their peers.

In the Reciprocal style of teaching, students work in pairs. One student (sometimes called the "doer") performs the skill practice repetitions. The other student fills the role of observer. This students' job is to provide feedback to his/her partner.

Suppose one of the objectives of a lesson is for the students to improve their ability to serve a tennis ball. Perhaps the students have been introduced to the skill in the previous lesson. Now the teacher wishes them to gain more practice but also wants to make sure each student gets performance feedback. The teacher explains and demonstrates how to execute this skill and then describes how students are to practice the skill. Each student pairs with another, and they are asked to take turns as both a performer and an observer. The performer (P) takes a given number of practice trials while being observed by their partner (O). During the student practice time, the teacher (T) circulates through and around the court area, offering encouragement to students. Figure 1 portrays a likely arrangement of students as described in this scenario.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Characteristics of Style C

As noted previously, all styles have their strengths as well as weakness. It is crucial to remember a weakness of Style B is that it may be very difficult for a single teacher to give timely feedback to a large class of students in a given class period. Yet performance feedback can go a long way to helping students improve their skills (see, e.g., Kluka, 1999, and Magill, 2006). So, the first characteristic of Style C is that it seeks to address this potential problem. By designating a partner to observe performance, the teacher insures that all students receive feedback.

A second characteristic involves the role of the teacher. We often (correctly) think of the teacher as being the expert on teaching and learning and therefore assume that advice and augmented feedback will, and perhaps must, come from the teacher. However, in this teaching Style the teachers' role is to assist the observer and, in doing so, to refrain from directly giving feedback to the performer. This requires that the teacher "accept a new reality where he or she is not the only source of information" for the students (Mosston & Ashworth, 2002). While difficult, this act is terribly important. In terms of offering feedback, the teacher should communicate only with the observer, not the doer, because this action is necessary to support the role and efficacy of the observer. A typical scenario may help to clarify. Imagine the tennis serving example illustrated previously. The teacher approaches a pair of students, one of whom is serving balls and the other is observing. The teacher speaks to the observer in reference to the performing student:

Teacher: "How's he doing?"

Student: "Pretty good."

Teacher: "That's great! What have you noticed that is "good" about your partners' performance?"

Student: "Well, he's consistent on the height of his toss and he's getting his racquet arm extended as he swings up and out at the ball, just like you showed us."

Teacher: "Alright. Have you told him?"

Student: "Well ... he already knows it."

Teacher: "Maybe, but you can help him remember it better if you tell him the good and even the not so good parts of his swing. Go ahead and tell him now (student relays information to performing partner). Thanks for doing that. What else do you notice?"

The conversation continues in this fashion; the teacher asks the observer what he or she has observed and makes sure the performer is receiving the information. In this way the teacher supports the role of the observer. The teacher helps the observer become a better observer, and the performing student comes to rely on his/ her peer, as opposed to the teacher, for feedback. If the teacher were to give feedback to the performer, bypassing and usurping the observers' role, it would undermine the value of the observer in the eyes of both the performer and the observer (Mosston & Ashworth, 2002).

A third characteristic involves the preparation of the students to be good observers. The teacher needs to teach the students how to observe. S/he may say to the students, "Watch how I observe and give feedback to Bobby after he serves the ball three times" and then s/he might demonstrate how this happens. Teachers need to emphasize, and students need to realize, that students play an important role as observers and that they are trusted to perform this role. The teacher should help them prepare for this with practical suggestions about where to stand, when to give feedback, and how to phrase both the positive (what the performer is doing correctly) and the negative (what the performer is doing incorrectly) comments they need to share. Here are some typical examples of appropriate verbal communication:

"You're doing well because you're following the proper steps ." "I saw you shift your weight just like the teacher showed us." "Well, on two of those serves I saw your toss was in the right place, but on one of them it wasn't far enough out in front of you." "This observation sheet says to bring your hands up together, but

I'm seeing them go up at different times."

Since the observers are not professional teachers and cannot be expected to remember all details of the task, it is obvious that observational charts or task sheets/cards are a very big help in this process! In fact, these criteria sheets have been identified as the "single factor that can determine the success of failure" of the Reciprocal lesson segment (Mosston & Ashworth, 1994). Task cards or sheets must be detailed enough so that the observer knows what to do and what to look for, but not so cumbersome as to be hard to follow. They must also be tailored to the reading level of the students. Figure 2 displays an example appropriate for middle and high school students.

Strengths of this Teaching Style

The obvious benefit of the Reciprocal Style is that all students are guaranteed feedback. Instead of the lone teacher trying to evaluate the performance of numerous students, some of whom will perform the skill many times for many minutes without corrective feedback, Style C insures feedback in a timely manner for everyone. The teacher needs to strongly emphasize to all students that the feedback should focus on the observed performance and nothing else. Performers need to be reassured only their skill, and nothing else about them (such as their intelligence, their likability, or their worth as a person), is being evaluated. In this way they come to realize the feedback they receive is not meant to criticize them as an individual, but rather is meant to help them improve their performance of the skill. Students may not have participated in this type of learning situation before, and the so-called "social-emotional relationship" (Mosston & Ashworth, 1994) between partners may be tentative at first. Thus, it is important for teachers to emphasize to observers to confine their observations to specific comments about the skill.

A second benefit is that giving added responsibility to students should help them take a more active role in their learning and therefore increase that learning. In the tennis example, the observer is engaged cognitively in the task while his/her partner is hitting serves. If the observer has told his/her partner several times about getting the ball toss in front of the hitting shoulder, then he/she should be more likely to remember and execute that skill cue during his/her turn.

A third benefit can be the potential to help students grow in their social skills. Defining exactly how to interact with and help their partner gives clear boundaries for acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. Students whose comments are guided by the task sheet, and not by personal feelings, learn self control while developing trust with the partner (Mosston & Ashworth, 2002).

Weaknesses of this Teaching Style

The act of guaranteeing feedback by using student peers means that those observing peers are not performing the skill during those observations. Thus, the foremost obvious weakness is that student practice repetitions are cut in half. Although the decrease in repetitions is somewhat mitigated by the cognitive involvement in the task, it must be noted that during a lesson segment using Reciprocal Style the students will not perform as many skill repetitions as they could if the teacher allowed all students to serve on their own at their own pace (as in Style B).

A second weakness is the potential for students to be poor observers and thus give feedback of little or no value. This speaks to the importance of a good task sheet and emphasizes the need for teachers to allow students to practice using the task sheet. The thoughtful teacher can do this by demonstrating the task several times and allowing the students to give feedback on the teachers' performance. The teacher will probably need to demonstrate correct as well as incorrect technique. This will take a little time (more intrusion into student skill practice time) but will be important for the success of the lesson segment.

Finally, there may be inherent issues with student partnerships. Two good friends working together may want to spend more time socializing than performing. In collusion, they simply tell each other everything is alright. Conversely, two students who are unfriendly with each other could potentially be paired. Rather than collusion, they could quickly come into conflict ("That's no good!" "Oh yeah?!?"). Rather than growing in social interaction skills, they end up arguing. As has been noted, the teacher must teach and emphasize correct behavior through use of the observation task sheet.

Summary of Style C characteristics and suggestions for use

Since it is hard to give timely feedback to students in large class sizes, Reciprocal Style teaching insures all students will, indeed, receive feedback about their skill performances through use of an observing peer. This feedback can help to support and solidify correct technique as well as eliminate or cut down on poor technique. Although the observer is not performing the task in the physical sense, the act of active observation at least engages that student cognitively, helping cement the performance cues in their memory for use when they do begin their skill practice.

On the other hand, motor skills require much practice to develop and refine, so for some amount of the lesson the opportunity for students to practice is cut down by the need to function as observers. Further, when working with a partner the opportunity to pull one another off task, either in collusion or conflict, is always present, and the teacher must spend some amount of time teaching students how to be partners.

How then might this style of teaching be best applied? As with other styles, it should be remembered that "styles" and "lessons" are not synonymous terms. These teaching styles can be, and in fact are meant to be, used in conjunction with any/all of the other styles. Teachers may be better served to use the styles in segments or portions of their lessons rather than staying with one style through an entire lesson. Teachers should certainly consider choosing any style in context with the lesson of the day and the previous learning experiences students have had.

Style C might be difficult to use in the beginning of a unit in which a particular skill is presented for the first time. Students will not have any familiarity with the skill; that skill might be hard to perform and harder still to give feedback about. However, once a general idea of skill performance is achieved, perhaps in a second lesson, peer observation can be very valuable in helping learners refine their coordination and performance of the task. One can easily imagine using Command and Practice Styles in Day 1 of a unit of instruction to help students get a basic skill foundation, and then use Reciprocal Style during part of Day 2, and later days, of that unit. Five minutes here and five minutes there of focused observation can really help students with their skills, and may also help them become helpers in turn. In doing so, teachers may also give, and recognize, added responsibility for learning to the students, something that can be very rewarding for everyone. Of course, it would be great if a way could be devised to insure feedback for all students without cutting down on the amount of skill repetition they receive. Fortunately, one such way does exist. It is called the Self -Check Style of Teaching, and will be the focus on the next article in this series.

References

Kluka, D. (1999). Motor behavior: From learning to performance. Englewood, CO: Morton Publishing.

Magill, R. A. (2006). Motor learning and control: Concepts and applications (8th Ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Mosston, M., & Ashworth, S. (1994). Teaching physical education (4th Ed.). Macmillan: New York.

Mosston, M., & Ashworth, S. (2002). Teaching physical education (5th Ed.). Benjamin Cummings: San Francisco.

Thomson, W. C. (2009). Mosston's styles of teaching: A review of command style. The Virginia Journal, 30(2), 20-22.

Figure 2

Server -- Observer --

Server: Serve 3 times, making sure each time that your partner is
watching your motion. Your partner will then give you some feedback
about your serve. Use that feedback and serve 3 more times.

Observer: Watch your partner perform 3 serves, putting a checkmark
([check]) in the appropriate box (boxes 1, 2, and 3) when you observe
the correct technique being used. Then, give your partner feedback on
what you observed. Then observe three more serves and mark in boxes 4,
5, and 6 and then give additional feedback. Switch roles after these
6 serves.

Service Reminders: 1. Continental grip 2. Hands down and up together
as you toss ball and raise your racquet 3. Toss in front of hitting
shoulder 4. Racquet moves up and outward as your weight shifts forward

Notes/What to work on:

Table 1

Style        Style Name                     Characteristic

A       Command                 Students only move on signal
from teacher
B       Practice                Self-paced student practice; feedback
from teacher
C       Reciprocal              Feedback from a peer observer
D       Self-check              Feedback to self
E       Inclusion               Multiple levels of task difficulty
F       Guided discovery        Learning is directed by questions
G       Convergent production   Students converge on one correct answer
H       Divergent production    Multiple correct solutions to problem
I       Going beyond            Students conceive problem and solution

1   2   3   4   5   6

Grip
Hands move together
Toss in front of shoulder, out into court
Racquet moves up and out

Notes/What to work on: