The concept of Best Practice Pedagogy

The history of pedagogy is flooded with an excess of scholarly attempts over 2000 year to answer three
questions: What is Iearning? How does it happen? and, How can we facilitate it?
The Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are among the well-known pioneers of the search for
answers to these questions. The great philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists and educationists over
the centuries continued to search for answers.This search has led to the development of many models or
theories of learning and the best approaches to teaching.

In an integrated pedagogy, best practice pedagogy can be defined as teaching, learning, assessment and
curriculum, which produce superior results among learners. In other words, it is a program, process,
and/or procedure that continuously and regularly produces superior results among learners, when
compared to other strategies.

It is pedagogy that challenges learners to excel at their personal best, learning in their different styles and
equipping them with the knowledge, skills and competences that they will need as a productive citizens in
the twenty-first-century digital economy. Such pedagogy helps learners to become self-directed learners,
and to reason without taking things for granted. It discourages rote learning and encourages higher quality
learning and a deep understanding and applying what they learn in real-life contexts beyond the classroom
and school.
Best practice pedagogy puts students at the centre of the teaching, learning and curriculum process, and
use assessment for formative purposes with immediate feedback . It seeks to maximize student
involvement and engagement. It promote active learning, deep level learning and mastery of fundamental
concepts by the students.
In best practice pedagogy students and teachers are both learners. Teachers continually learn from their
experiences through reflection, collaboration with their peers and ongoing professional development as
lifelong learners.

The principles of Good practice and the Best Practice Pedagogy

Seven principles for good practice
1. Encourages contacts between students and faculty

2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students

3. Uses active learning techniques
4. Gives prompt feedback
5. Emphasizes time on task
6. Communicates high expectations

7. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning

The multiple effects resulted from such principles are:

Activity; Expectations; Cooperation; Interaction; Diversity; and Responsibility.