Teaching styles in physical education: exploring relationships between the use of direct and indirect instructional styles among student teachers

Abstract

Background and Study Aim. Effective teaching in Physical Education requires a balance between teacher-directed guidance and student-centred learning. Direct and indirect teaching styles support motor, cognitive, and social learning through different instructional approaches. Although both approaches are widely used in Physical Education, their relationships within the instructional practices of student teachers during initial teacher education remain of practical interest. Therefore, the present study investigated the use of direct and indirect teaching styles among Physical Education student teachers (PE-STs) during their pedagogical internship. Materials and Methods. Quantitative data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 100 PE-STs (50 males and 50 females; aged 21–24 years) enrolled at the Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education in Tunisia. The questionnaire assessed the reported use of ten teaching styles grouped into direct and indirect dimensions. Internal consistency was satisfactory (Cronbach's α= .814). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square tests, and Spearman's correlation analyses. Results. Direct teaching styles were used more frequently than indirect teaching styles. The Practice style was the most frequently reported approach (53% always; M = 3.41 ± 0.69), followed by the Command style (36% always; M = 3.03 ± 0.88). In contrast, learner-centred approaches requiring higher levels of autonomy were reported less frequently, particularly the Learner-Initiated (M = 1.45 ± 0.68) and Self-Teaching (M = 1.26 ± 0.73) styles. Gender differences were generally limited, with statistically significant differences observed only for the Reciprocal and Learner-Designed Individual Program styles. Correlation analyses identified six significant positive associations, most of which involved the Inclusion style (r = .217–.319, p < .05), indicating selective relationships between specific direct and indirect teaching styles. Conclusions. The findings indicate that PE-STs rely predominantly on structured, teacher-directed instructional approaches while making limited use of learner-centred teaching styles. Rather than representing opposing pedagogical orientations, direct and indirect teaching styles appear to be selectively associated within instructional practice. These findings contribute to understanding teaching style use during initial teacher education and provide empirical evidence to support the development of teacher education programmes that promote a broader and more balanced instructional repertoire.