The Task teaching style is an option available to students under Student-Directed Teaching, a progressive teaching technology that aims to give the student a greater sense of ownership in his or her own education.
This teaching style is "for those students who required formal instruction and yet are capable of making some choice as to the appropriate practice for them to master the objective." This formal instruction happens at the same time as the Command students.
Under Task, the teacher will:
Provide a unit plan consisting of the objectives for several days, written in a language that students can understandProvide formal instructionLimit formal instruction to 25% of the timeProvide an instruction areaAssign an appropriate amount of choice in practice related to the instructionProvide a checking station with answer keysUse good questioning techniques and negotiation to help steer the students to becoming more independentSpend approximately 60% of the total class time with the students whose choice was Task (remember Command and Task are together for formal instruction)Provide perception checks and final tests as indicated in the unit planProvide a second evaluative activity if required by an individual studentThe student will:
Listen to the instructionConsider what they know and what they don't know when selecting the amount and type of practiceDeclare the mark expected on each perception checkDo more than one perception check if the declared mark is not reached within the flexibility factorAssignments for students choosing Task style might look something like this:
On page 159 there are some practice questions. Do any 3 of the first 5, any 2 of the next 5 and any 4 of the next 10.
