Pedagogy

Pedagogy, literally translated, is the art or science of teaching children. In modern day usage, it is a synonym for "teaching" or "education", and is used extensively in scholarly articles. The word comes from the ancient Greek paidagogos, a compound comprised of "paidos" (child) and "agogos" (leader). While the term is often used to mean the art of teaching in general, some prefer to make the distinction between pedagogy (teaching children) and andragogy (teaching adults). The terms "pedagogy" and "andragogy" are also used to describe teacher/subject based instruction and student centered/directed instruction, respectively.

The term "critical pedagogy", coined by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, is traditionally defined as educational theory and teaching/learning practices designed to raise learners' critical consciousness regarding oppressive social conditions. Critical pedagogy is particularly concerned with reconfiguring the traditional teacher/student relationship using meaningful dialog.

An honorary academic degree, Ped.D., Doctor of Pedagogy, is awarded by some American universities to distinguished educators. The term is also used with earned degrees to denote an emphasis in education within a field (for instance, a Doctor of Music degree "in piano pedagogy").

The History of Pedagogy in Education

Circa 3000 B.C.E., the advent of writing resulted in a style of education that was more self-reflective, with specialized occupations requiring particular skills and knowledge: scribes, astronomers, etc.. From the very beginning, educators have tried to find specific, interesting ways to bring out the possibilities of intelligence and a love of learning from their pupils. In ancient Greece, philosophy helped questions of educational methods enter national discourse. In both 'Republic' and 'Dialogues", Plato advocates a system of instruction using the Socratic method of teaching through questions. Through the clever use of questions and answers, Plato's teacher, Socrates, was able to show even an uneducated slave boy how the logic leading to the Pythagorean Theorem was within him.

During the mid 1600's in what is now the Czech Republic, an educator named Comenius wrote the first children's textbook containing vivid illustrations, entitled 'The Visible World in Pictures'. Known as the "Father of Modern Education", Comenius believed in a holistic approach to education. He taught that education began in the earliest days of childhood and continued throughout life, and that learning, spiritual, and emotional growth were all woven together. Unlike most of society at the time, he also advocated the formal education of women. Well respected throughout northern Europe, he was asked to restructure the entire Swedish school system.

During the 1700's, the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau presented his methodology on the education of children in his novel Emile, the story of the education of a young boy. Within his novel, Rousseau describes the importance of having a focus on both environment and personal experience. Different learning stages are described; for example, during the "The age of Nature" (from ages 2 to 12), Rosseau feels a boy should receive no moral instruction or verbal learning, as the mind should be "left undisturbed until its faculties have developed". Instead, education during this stage is focused on physical and sensory development. Books are eschewed during Emile's education, with the exception of "Robinson Crusoe", a novel that reinforces Rousseau's ideal of the solitary, self-sufficient man.

Learning Theories and Pedagogy

In psychology and education, learning theories describe how people learn; these theories aid in the development of various pedagogical approaches to learning. There are three main perspectives in learning theories: Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism.

Behaviorism

Behaviorism, a term coined by American psychologist John Watson, is based around the idea of a stimulus-response pattern of conditioned behavior. One of the most famous experiments in classical conditioning was performed by Russian physiologist Pavlov. By introducing the sound of a bell before placing food in front of a dog, Pavlov was able to create a conditioned response in the dog where the dog would salivate at the ringing of the bell alone. Some of the most important developments in behaviorism, especially as it relates to pedagogy, occurred in the mid-twentieth century with B.F. Skinner. Skinner studied operant, or voluntary, behaviors, and called his approach "operant conditioning". Skinner's mechanisms included: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, non-reinforcement, and punishment. In a classroom setting, negative reinforcement might consist of being excused from writing a paper because of previous good work, while non-reinforcement might consist of ignoring misbehavior in the hope that lack of reinforcement will stop the behavior.

Cognitivism

Cognitivism, also known as Cognitive Information Processing (CIP), became the dominant force in psychology in the late twentieth century, replacing behaviorism as the most popular paradigm for understanding the learning process. Cognitive theory is not a refutation of behaviorism, but rather an expansion that uses changes in behavior as indicators for processes within a learner's mind. The concept of cognitive theory utilizes the concept of "schema", a structure of internal knowledge, as well as the concept of short and long term memory. Cognitive theory suggests that meaningful information is easier to retain, and new information is affected by context, environment, and previous schema.

Constructivism

Constructivism believes that learners construct and interpret their individual realities based on their perceptions of experiences. In constructivist thought, learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs new ideas or concepts based upon current and past knowledge and beliefs. Constructivist learning, therefore, is a very personal endeavor, whereby internalized concepts, rules, and general principles may consequently be applied in a practical real-world context. The teacher acts as a facilitator, encouraging students to discover principles for themselves and to construct knowledge by working to solve realistic problems. Working with other students enables the sharing of viewpoints and an emphasis on collaborative learning. Constructivist theories are behind many modern teaching styles, such as Generative Learning, Discovery Learning, and knowledge building, and promote a student's free exploration within a given framework or structure.

Modern Teaching Methods

In many countries, including the United States, the traditional method of education is the "banking method of education", a concept perhaps most famously criticized in Friere's 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed' (ISBN 0-8264-1276-9), first published in 1968. With the "banking" method, teachers lecture and bestow knowledge upon the student, who then passively receives, or "banks" it. During the twentieth century, the work of Freire and others withing the learning community began to have an impact on the way the learning was perceived, and pedagogical approaches to education began to become widely discussed in the educational world.

In particular, the concepts behind Cognitivism and social constructivism have led to the development of schools like Montessori and Waldorf schools; private schools that allow children to direct their own education, and encourage hands-on and active learning, while minimizing the amount of technology and teacher-directed learning.

Many current day educators are focusing on ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. Television, computers, radio, and other forms of media are being utilized in an educational context, often in an attempt to involve the student actively in their own education. Some educators, on the other hand, believe that the use of technology can facilitate learning, but is not the most effective means of encouraging critical thinking and a desire to learn, and prefer the use of physical objects.

While new approaches and pedagogical techniques are constantly being developed, some older ones are being questioned. For example, many educators question the value of standardized testing, particularly in younger children. While techniques like standardized testing are still a major part of many educational systems, there is a push to discontinue their use in favor of more student centered, hands on evaluation.

Pedagogical approaches and learning theories may be numerous in nature, but the desire of educators to examine and discuss these varied approaches and theories will hopefully help create the best possible learning environment for students, from preschool through adult.

Further Reading

• Knowles, M. (1975). Self-Directed Learning. Chicago: Follet. ISBN 0-8428-2215-1
• Knowles, M. (1984). The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (3rd Ed.). Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing. ISBN 0-88415-115-8
• Knowles, M. (1984). Andragogy in Action. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 0-608-21794-8

• Everett Dean Martin, The Meaning of a Liberal Education, Norton, 1926.
• Paul Monroe, A Text-Book in the History of Education, Macmillan, 1915.
• Gilbert Highet, The Art of Teaching, Knopf, 1950.
• The Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method.

External links

• Pedagogy.ir – Iranian Pedagogy Portal
• Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, Culture
• Rethinkingschools.org – Rethinking Schools Magazine
• Statement of principles by Dr. Knowles
• Description of Andragogy from the encyclopaedia of informal education and lifelong learning
• Learning Theories
• Creating Learning Centered Classrooms. What Does Learning Theory Have To Say? ERIC Digest.
• How People Learn (and What Technology Might Have To Do with It). ERIC Digest.
• About Learning 12 Learning Theories Described
• Theory Into Practice (TIP) database brief summaries of 50 major theories of learning and instruction
• Folk knowledge and academic learning. In B. J. Ellis & D. F. Bjorklund (Eds.), Origins of the social mind (pp. 493-519). New York: Guilford Publications. A paper from the perspective of evolutionary developmental psychology.
• Teaching in a Computer Lab
• Educational CyberPlayGround Online Curriculum
• Encyclopaedia of Informal Education

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