If you are in the lead up to beginning your teacher training, you might be noticing the word ‘pedagogy’ appearing in much of your preparatory reading (I sure know I am). While this word may be familiar, it is not something I have ever used in my education. Mostly because it is directly linked to teaching – unless you are in this field, you are not likely to have any use for this word. Going forward into a career in teaching will give me a much better understanding of this word – as I will need to implement different pedagogies when teaching.
Today, reading TES, I came across a very interesting article that begins to discuss the meaning of pedagogy and touches on the 4 different pedagogies. This article can be found here. I found this article very easy reading – it discusses what a pedagogy is and the different pedagogical approaches without being overwhelming for people inexperienced. This knowledge will be something I am sure I will use in my future career as a primary school teacher.
To put it simply, a pedagogy is the method and practice of teaching. According to this article “it encompasses: Teaching styles, Teaching theory and Feedback and Assessment.” When planning lessons, a trained teacher will draw upon their experience of teaching that specific year group as well as using their knowledge of the different pedagogies. While I am yet to gain teaching experience, I can learn the different pedagogies – giving me a wider understanding of teaching styles that can be implemented from my first day teaching. As stated in the article, I am sure as a teacher I will develop my own style of teaching based upon these pedagogies and my own experience teaching.
The 4 different approaches are; Behaviourism, Constructivism, Social constructivism and Liberationism. (I am sitting with my partner discussing how much these words sound made up ‘liberationism’ is something I have never heard of before in my life!)
The Behaviourism pedagogy is based on the ‘Behaviourist approach’ in psychology. Behaviourism says all behaviour is learned from our environment. (Thorndike (1911), Pavlov (1927) and Skinner (1957).
The behaviourism pedagogy says the teacher is the sole authority figure in the classroom, the article states that “In a lesson using a behaviourist pedagogical approach, you could expect to see a mixture of lecturing, modelling and demonstration, rote learning, and choral repetition.” Behaviourism is often also referred to as a more traditional teaching approach.
The Constructivism pedagogy is based on the research by Piaget (1896-1890). It says that pupils come ready to learn and the teachers need to build the lesson around the pupils to assist in their learning.
The article says “Younger children work things through physically, whereas older children tackle symbolic and abstract ideas.” People who teach in this style believe learning outdoors can be beneficial to the learning outcomes. Constructivism is often also referred to as a more progressive teaching approach.
The Social Constructivism pedagogy was developed by Lev Vygotsky and can be seen as a combination of two priorities – teacher guided, and pupil centred. Vygotsky argued that the learning didn’t only happen in social situations – he believed that learning had to be collaborative; the pupil and the teacher needed to work together.
The article says “The teacher would use group work elements, but would use smaller group sizes, and limit the choice in topics. The teacher might also use teacher modelling, questioning, and a mixture of individual, pair, and whole class instruction.”
The Liberationism pedagogy was developed by Paulo Freire. A Brazilian educator who “was the Director of the Department of Education, and developed an approach of teaching where he was able to teach illiterate adults to read in just 45 days. Freire focussed on removing the two barriers to learning: poverty and hunger.”
A Liberationism approach is where the pupil is put at the centre of all learning and the teacher is a learner themselves. The pupils voice is the centre of the lesson, and the classroom is democratic. The article says how “the teacher might use examples of literature that contain non-standard constructions, such as hip-hop, or graffiti. Students may take on the role of the teacher, and decide upon the topic of the lesson.”
When reading the definitions of each pedagogy mentioned in this article, I found myself trying to imagine what pedagogy I might use in the classroom. I can’t see myself only drawing upon only one pedagogy – surely they all have valid ideas that can be combined to teach. While I have no experience in a classroom yet, I myself drawing from my own experiences in school as well as other, classroom like, experiences I have had since – I have experience being an American summer camp counsellor and have been a lead mentor on the NCS programme in England. Both of which included running informal learning scenarios.
When applying these pedagogies to the classroom I feel I am likely to take aspects from each. I am sure many teachers do this overtime as you get to know your class and discover the best ways to engage your pupils. Some pupils will love going outdoors and learning by doing, others will enjoy engaging in group discussions and some may prefer the lecture-style lessons. All of the pedagogies mentioned in this article have good ideas and are based upon important research and theories.
I am already starting to think about ways to implement these pedagogies in my future classroom and thinking of ways I may adapt my own pedagogy as a primary school teacher and if you are wanting to know more about the different pedagogies, then I would advise reading this article! It is a great starting point that links you to the theories and research behind each pedagogy as well as pointing you in the direction of high-quality further reading.
Hope you are having a great weekend.
Until next time,
– R
A Teacher in the making 