The Art and Craft of Pedagogy: Portraits Of Effective Teachers (Continuum Studies in Educational Research)

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During the 1700s, 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 described 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), Rousseau argued that 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 should be focused on physical and sensory development. Books are eschewed during Emile's education, with the exception of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, a novel that reinforced Rousseau's ideal of the solitary, self-sufficient man. [4] According to the constructivist approach, learners construct and interpret their individual realities based on their perceptions of experiences. Learning is regarded 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. [6] Constructivist theories are behind many modern teaching styles, such as Generative Learning, Inquiry-based instruction, Discovery Learning, and knowledge building, promoting the student's free exploration within a given framework or structure.

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000. ISBN 0826412769Can the notion of pedagogy be unhooked from the discourse of schooling and returned to something more like its Greek origins? In Britain and Ireland there is some hope that pedagogy can be rescued. That possibility rests largely on the extent to which social pedagogy and its associated forms become established – especially in social work and community learning and development. If this professional identity takes root, and academic training programmes follow, then there is a chance that a counter-culture will grow and offer a contrasting set of debates. There is some evidence that this is beginning to happen with jobs with the social pedagogue title appearing in both care settings and schools, and new degree programmes being established in the UK. Art, science or craft?

Chesters, Sarah Davey (2012). The Socratic Classroom. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Science & Business Media. p.35. ISBN 978-94-6091-855-1. Rogers, C. R. (1983). Freedom to Learn for the '80s. New York: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company, A Bell & Howell Company.One of the important landmarks here was the publication of John Amos Comenius’s book The Great Didactic [ Didactica Magna] (first published in Czech in 1648, Latin in 1657 and English in 1896). For Comenius, preparation – relating new material to be learned to relevant existing ideas ( memories) to stimulate the student's interest (prepare students to be ready for the new lesson) As Hamilton (1999: 143) has put it, Herbart sought to devise, from first principles, an educational system and thus worked towards a general theory of pedagogics (see, for example, Allgemeine pädagogik– General Pedagogics, 1806 and Umriss Pädagogischer Vorlesungen, 1835 – Plan of Lectures on Pedagogy and included in Herbart 1908). The importance of psychology in understanding the interest, abilities, and learning processes of students, has become an integral part of theories of education. Theories of learning have been developed to describe how people learn; these theories aid in the development of various pedagogical approaches. There are three main perspectives in educational psychology: Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism. Young, Lynne E.; Paterson, Barbara L. (2007). Teaching Nursing: Developing a Student-centered Learning Environment. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p.5. ISBN 978-0781757720.

The growing interest in social pedagogy and specialist pedagogues in some countries, when put alongside developments in thinking about the nature of learning –means that we are at one of those moments where there might be movement around how the term is used in English-language contexts. Here I just want to highlight three areas of debate: Successful education for all depends on teachers being able to embrace both the art and science of pedagogy, acting as "parents" who understand the needs, abilities, and experiences of their students while also being trained in the best methods of communication and presentation of appropriate materials. Before Herbart, it was unusual to combine the concepts of ‘education’ and ‘teaching’. Consequently, questions pertaining to education and teaching were initially pursued independently… Herbart… took the bold step of ‘subordinating’ the concept of ‘teaching’ to that of ‘education’ in his educational theory. As he saw it, external influences, such as the punishment or shaming of pupils, were not the most important instruments of education. On the contrary, appropriate teaching was the only sure means of promoting education that was bound to prove successful.At the centre of his theory of education and of schooling is the idea of ‘educational teaching’ or ‘educating instruction’ ( erzieinder Unterricht). Hilgenheger (1993: 651-2) makes the following observations: Initially, interest in pedagogy was reawakened by the decision of Paulo Freire to name his influential book Pedagogy of the Oppressed (first published in English in 1970). The book became a key reference point on many education programmes in higher education and central to the establishment of explorations around critical pedagogy. It was followed by another pivotal text – Basil Bernstein’s (1971) ‘On the classification and framing of educational knowledge’. He drew upon developments in continental debates. He then placed them in relation to the different degrees of control people had over their lives and educational experience according to their class position and cultures. Later he was to look at messages carried by different pedagogies (Bernstein 1990). Last, we should not forget the influence of Jerome Bruner’s discussion of the culture of education (1996). He argued that teachers need to pay particular attention to the cultural contexts in which they are working and of the need to look to ‘folk theories’ and ‘folk pedagogies’ (Bruner 1996: 44-65). ‘Pedagogy is never innocent’, he wrote, ‘It is a medium that carries its own message’ ( op. cit.: 63). Pedagogy as a means of control Education is a deliberate process of drawing out learning ( educere), of encouraging and giving time to discovery. It is an intentional act. At the same time, it is, as John Dewey (1963) put it, a social process – ‘a process of living and not a preparation for future living’. As well being concerned with learning that we set out to encourage – a process of inviting truth and possibility – it is also based on certain values and commitments such as respect for others and for truth. Education is born, it could be argued, of the hope and desire that all may share in life and ‘be more’.