Spectrum Observations

Here you can find observations about the Spectrum made by colleagues and contributors. If you have a Spectrum observation to include, please submit it for consideration via the contact us page.

No teaching style is inherently good or bad. Each style IS. Each style accomplishes the objectives intrinsic to its specific T-L decision configuration.

Each style represents only a portion of the human experience.

Mobility ability—the use of multiple episodes implementing different styles—offers opportunities to develop different decision-making skills and different learning objectives.

A Cornerstone

A unified theory of teaching must take into account the relationships among and the integration of all styles. It is the full Spectrum of Teaching Styles, not a particular style used in isolation, that will serve as a cornerstone for an expanded pedagogy.

When a style does not conform to its structural configuration the anticipated set of objectives is altered.

Each style has the capacity to uniquely contribute to human development and content acquisition.

Individual Needs

No single T-L style can contribute equally to the individual needs of all learners or develop all human attributes or all content expectations.

Inappropriate Usage

Each style can be inappropriately used and thus hinder human development and content acquisition.

Teachers are the Architects of learning.

Even if the decisions of a teaching episode are prepared perfectly to match a teaching style, if the subject matter is not appropriate, the learning experience is flawed.

Just because a teacher is implementing the Spectrum, it does not mean that each teaching episode is wonderful. Labels do not determine value. Coordination among all the components in teaching must complement each teaching episode. For example, the following must be appropriately matched to the needs of the students: clear expectations, subject matter selection, content appropriateness, worthiness, and delivery, etc., active time-on-task, selection of teaching style, feedback choices, class climate, etc. These and other components are all critical and contribute to the assessment of a successful teaching-learning experience. As architects of learning, we teachers, must know the content of pedagogy and how to design and construct worthwhile learning experiences.

Research often seeks to investigate which teaching style most dramatically encourages and develops positive emotional factors such as self-motivation, self-perception of competence, self-efficacy, etc. Much of this research promotes a VS point of view. Development of these qualities depends on the preferences, beliefs, experiences, etc. of the student. Many people are self-motivated and gain their self-competence, self-efficacy, etc. through Command Style experiences while others require Divergent Discovery opportunities to trigger their inner-self energy. Others are motivated by the personal characteristics of the teacher, independent of the teaching style. It is incorrect to suggest that one style promotes these human attributes over all others. Each style has the capacity to trigger or to dismantle a person's sense of worth, sense of self-empowerment and motivation.

The content selected and/or the human attributes of the teacher or learner can produce a positive or negative effect on the teaching experience.