Direct Instruction

Even though they may not identify it formally as model-based instruction, the vast majority of physical education teachers today probably use some recognizable version of what is known as direct instruction. For many years, this was the most dominant teaching approach in physical education—although not under that label. If you will recall from Chapter 1 , there was a distinct “method” of teaching physical education that was dominant from around 1890 well into the 1970s. Oberteuffer and Ulrich (1962) refer to it as the direct method, characterized by the “teacher saying” and “students doing.” This method is not to be confused with the Direct Instruction model, but it bears enough resemblance that the uninformed observer can misinterpret it as such.