Pedagogy, commonly known as teaching practices, is a term used to define the teaching approaches of a teacher or an educational institute. It is generally adopted by the teachers on different teaching aspects, taking into account the student’s needs and background. It aims to give both the teacher and the student the opportunity to learn and grow at their own pace.
The Importance of Pedagogy
Pedagogy is a very crucial aspect when it comes to teaching. A well-thought pedagogy can improve the quality of education in schools and colleges. It can help teachers know how their students think and assist them achieve a comprehensive understanding. Since child development and pedagogy go hand in hand, the right technique can assist students in going from basic memory and understanding to more complicated learning processes like analysis, assessment, and production, as outlined by Bloom's taxonomy pyramid. Students might benefit from a teaching method that accommodates their learning methods.
Modern vs Traditional learning
This is an important topic to discuss because, in the modern age, it is difficult for both students and teachers to come up to speed with each other because of various issues like the online environment, newer approaches for tests and many others. However, it can be said that online or hybrid mode is the modern way and has made education more accessible.
Besides becoming more accessible, it has ensured that colleges and schools update their teaching practices in line with the modern world through the use of different tools to engage students' attention and create an immersive educational environment.
An Approach to Pedagogy
There are different approaches to pedagogy that a teacher can try and implement in their teaching. These approaches are created to make classes more interesting and to create an inclusive environment for learning.
Constructivist
This entails including the participants in the development of the sessions' meaning. Teachers can promote 'reversed classroom' practices, in which delegates master things on their own before attending training and demonstrate them during the sessions. By involving them in the physical and mental construction of the sessions, you, as the facilitator, will be able to get to the application much faster and avoid wasting time setting up activities.
As they observe how the building of materials may be implemented in the workshop with others, this helps the brain digest information more clearly. It also allows people to share experiences that they have planned ahead of time.
Inquiry-based
This teaching approach is based on the scenarios and issues that learners would face in their field of work. It could be case-study-based, in which a pre-prepared problem is dispersed to small groups who utilize their experience to work on it, or it could be specific concerns and challenges that the learners have brought with them or prepared ahead of time. The benefit of employing these scenarios is that students can visualize themselves in these situations and work on the answers during real-time dialogues.
You might also ask them to research answers to questions or scenarios on the internet and report back to the rest of the group afterwards.
Collaborative
This approach of pedagogy allows learners to understand concepts and apply them in real-world circumstances by working in pairs, groups, or entire teams. In small groups, students might teach others about their experiences. A teacher may allow small groups to gather together in some of the training sessions, and individuals share their particular topic with others, so they may learn from it. The facilitator sits in on some of the groups to listen in and respond to any questions. For many students, this method can be very useful as these collaborative sessions have taught them a lot.
Reflective
If the ideas are to be consolidated, established, and embedded in their minds and hearts, learners must be allowed to reflect on what they have learned.
This approach can encourage students to spend five to ten minutes reading over their notes, discussing actions with one or two partners, sharing learning points with others, and planning their next steps. In this way, individuals examine and reflect on the learning experience's value, demonstrating to themselves that the time they invested was worthwhile.
Time for reflection is also beneficial for teachers. It allows them to reflect on learning points and determine which areas performed well and which did not, as well as keep materials up to date with new concepts.
Integrative
This is where students learn by engaging with one another. Integrative thinking allows for the exchange of ideas and concepts that may be unfamiliar to others. The goal is to adapt the principles that have been covered in the classroom to various scenarios, extending students' minds to apply the new ideas in hard situations they may experience outside of the classroom.
The brain must recognize the practical application of ideas it has acquired; therefore, integrating ideas is crucial. Students have wasted their time if they return to their surroundings, saying they've ‘had a good couple of days but are unable to implement the lessons learnt because they are too ethereal or generic’. If people want to see benefits from their learning sessions, they need to run an integrative session.
Besides these practices, there are various other techniques that a teacher can opt for, such as -
- Flipped classroom pedagogy - In this approach, a student is asked to read a topic before they are taught in class and then are provided topic related activities to do in class. This approach makes sure the students are proactive in their learning and not lagging behind their peers.
- Culturally responsive pedagogy - This approach incentivises the culture of the society to impart knowledge to the students through stories and beliefs of a culture.
- Personalize Pedagogy— No student is the same. While some methods of learning might work for everyone, teachers can personalize pedagogy based on the current knowledge bar of the student. This is very effective in a 1:1 setting if implemented properly.
Conclusion
Whatever pedagogy or teaching practices a teacher chooses, they should correspond to their students. Teachers can experiment with different approaches to figure out which suits their students best and go with it. Furthermore, educational institutions and schools should also create such practices that benefit all students and not be restricted to only a few of them.
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