Pedagogy is the art & science of teaching!

In education, the term pedagogy is the art, science and craft of teaching. Pedagogical approaches may vary from teachercentred to learner-centred and learning-centred. Teacher-centred pedagogy have the teacher at the centre of the learning process and are popular across all categories of schools, colleges and training centres. This approach focuses on methods such as lectures, self AV materials, and rote memorization.

Learner-Centred Pedagogy is considered to be more participatory, active and student-centric and is predicated on the theory that learners should play an active role in the learning process. The teach-er thus plays the role of a facilitator and creates and structures the conditions for learning. Learning-centred pedagogy is the newest approach that suggests that both learnercentred and teacher-centred pedagogy have their own strengths but teachers must consider the ground realities like the number of students in the class, the infrastructure, the physical environment, the capability of the students, the availability of teaching and learning materials, etc. It suggests that teachers should be flexible and willing to adapt their pedagogical approaches based upon these ground realities.

In summary, the style of teaching a teacher chooses will have many factors depending on what kind of class is being taught, the kind of the skills that are being imparted, the age of the students, and the size of the class. Further, the learning ability of the class as well as the ground conditions (resources available) will also dictate the choice of pedagogy. There is also the question of “effective” pedagogy versus “preferred” pedagogy. For instance, a very interesting research on MBA students concluded that while the participants found case method to be most effective, they preferred the lecture method since it involved less work on their part!

Lecturing is the most popular method of teaching. However, lecturing is just one style of teaching in which the teacher handles all the instruction. The instructor can also incorporate class discussion into lectures so that all the material can be examined aloud by the students. Elementary school children are apt to learn through games and hands on exercises which stimulate learning. An older class, such as a high school class, can benefit from learning by teaching the material to their classmates or through discussions around cases. Audio-visual cases and material are also useful, particularly while training experienced people.

Coming to the skills, once again, to be effective you need to use different methods for different skills. A class on negotiation will be far more effective with role plays and simulations, while that on communication would be more effective through audio-video analyses, and recording and feedback methods.

Teachers need to be sensitive about how to handle different categories of pupils or students. Some of the axioms a teacher needs to live by include: Teachers should cause learning; Teachers must constantly review and reflect on their practice; Teachers should collaborate and discuss their practice with other professionals, and students; and Teachers should be constantly creative, innovative, and have fun with their teaching.

Have any questions about

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Disclaimer: The responses in this column given by me are based on my learnings and experience. They should, by no means, be taken as a substitute for medical/ professional help