Patterns of communication styles of teachers in english 16–19 education

Abstract

This article sets out some of the findings of an Oxford Brookes University project on the communication styles of teachers in English 16–19 education. Teachers and their students completed a Communications Styles Questionnaire (CSQ) and the teachers’ communications styles were subsequently profiled. The results show that most teachers communicate effectively, but that they rate themselves more highly than their students do on their ‘good’ qualities. Communication styles are not uniform, principally with regard to levels of learner autonomy. Traditional and non-outcome-based courses, such as A levels, allow less learner autonomy than GNVQ/BTEC courses; male teachers less than females; and engineering and mathematics teachers less than those of other subjects. The implications of these findings are a need to promote teacher-student discussion about patterns of interaction; and reflection and discussion among teachers that may lead to the development of a wider repertoire of communication styles, more suited to the needs of learners and teachers. © 1997 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.