Phase 1 : A focus on different types of teachers

Phase 2: A focus on the contexts of teaching

Phase 3: A focus on teaching and learning

Phase 4: Current views of pedagogy

At this point in the development of the research literature on pedagogy, a
suitably complex model is in sight. On the one hand it offers an increasingly
integrated conceptualization which specifies relations between its elements:
the teacher, the classroom or other context, content, the view of learning and
learning about learning. Such a model draws attention to the creation of
learning communities in which knowledge is actively co-constructed, and in
which the focus of learning is sometimes learning itself. This model of pedagogy
would also be increasingly differentiated by details of context, content,
age and stage of learner, purposes, and so on.
Such a model does not offer simple prescriptions for action but it does
provide guidelines for desired outcomes. Rather than suggest a simple linear
causal chain, which is unlikely to explain the links between teaching and
learning, it recognizes that influences are often partial and can be reciprocal.
D i fferent versions of pedagogy may be best understood as different clusters
of relations between the elements of the model.
Given that such a model reflects mainly the views of researchers and academics,
it is now important to ask how other people's knowledge of pedagogy
compares with this picture. In what ways might the perspective of
teachers be similar to, and different from, this model and how might this be
explained?
PRACTITIONERS' VIEWS O F PEDAGOGY
What is the view of the teacher - the everyday pedagogue ? McNamara ( 1 99 1 )
calls this view 'vernacular pedagogy'.

Although pedagogy is sometimes seen as a nebulous concept, it is essentially a

combination of knowledge and skills required for effective teaching. The more
traditional definitions describe pedagogy as either the science/theory or art/practice of
teaching that makes a difference in the intellectual and social development of
students.
More specifically, new research is defining pedagogy as “a highly complex blend of
theoretical understanding and practical skill” (Lovat, ACDE, p.11 2003). This research
is highlighting the vast complexity of teachers’ work and specifying just what the
nature of that work truly is. As Lovat further emphasises: a teacher is “a highly
developed autonomous professional, with a requisite professional knowledge base
and practitioner skills which could stand alongside the equivalent in medicine, law
and engineering” (ACDE, p.11).

In general, there are said to be three theoretical perspectives on learning: behaviorism,

cognitivism, and constructivism.

Behaviorism posits that learning can be fully understood in terms of environmental cues

(stimuli) and results (responses) that are apparent in the learner’s behavior. Effective instruction in the

behaviorist sense is one where learners learn to respond to certain stimuli in appropriate ways through

the teacher’s use of a system of reinforcement. Behaviorists tend not to be concerned with how
learners think, arguing that it is impossible to know what is taking place in a person’s mind. Learning

for them is a process not of thinking but of associating a stimulus with a certain response.

Cognitivism, which challenged the dominance of behaviorism in the 1960s, focuses on the

“Device” of the human mind and seeks to understand what goes on inside that device. To understand

how people learn, cognitivists study mental processes such as thinking, memory, knowing, and

problem-solving. In this paradigm, knowledge is seen as symbolic mental constructions (called

schemata) and learning is defined as change in a learner’s schemata. The change, which can be

observed in the learner’s behavior, occurs as the learner mentally processes information. Indeed,

cognitivists view the learner as an information processor, like a computer. For them, learning occurs

when a learner processes new information in working memory and then transfers it to long-term

memory.

Both of these theories subscribe to the idea that knowledge is something that exists

independently of the learner; teaching or instruction is a process of transferring this external

knowledge to learners; and learning is a process of receiving or acquiring this external knowledge.

In contrast, constructivists, or those who subscribe to constructivism, think of knowledge as

something that is constructed by learners as they attempt to make sense of their experiences. Learning,

according to this view, is an active process of constructing meaning based on experience. Learners

apply current understandings, note relevant elements in new learning experiences, judge the

consistency of prior and emerging knowledge, and based on that judgment modify [their

prior/existing/current] knowledge. Moreover, learning is a social process: it involves collaboration

among learners and negotiations of meaning from multiple perspectives.

The constructivist view of learning has important implications for teaching, such as the following:

1) Teaching is not a matter of transmitting or transferring knowledge. Since knowledge is not

something out there or a possession of the teacher to be given to and received by the learner.

2) The teacher is not the source of knowledge but a guide who provides students with opportunities to

construct new knowledge.

3) If prior knowledge is a key element in learning, then teachers must find out what learners already

know and provide learning environments that exploit inconsistencies between this prior/current

knowledge and the new experiences, and lead to the formation of new understandings.

4) Teachers must design learning environments that stimulate active learning, requiring learners to

build on or extend their current knowledge and skills (capabilities) as they try to solve the problem

and interact with their peers.

The primary focus of the behavioral perspective is on behavior and the influence of the external

environment in shaping the individual’s behavior. As such, the primary responsibility of the

instructional expert is to identify and sequence the contingencies that will help students learn.

Teachers should then state the objectives of the instruction as learners’ behaviors. Learning is inferred

from behavior, so it is important to identify the goal behavior, this involves breaking that goal

behavior into a set of simple behaviors and arranging them in a sequence of frames that will help

students progress toward the goal.

While the behavioral perspective has an external focus, the cognitivist one has an internal one.

Learning is described as a change in knowledge stored in memory. As a consequence, the instructional

expert is challenged with organizing new information for presentation, carefully linking new

information to previous knowledge and using a variety of techniques to guide and support the mental

processes of the student.

The constructivist perspective describes learning as a change in the meaning constructed from

experiences. Learning is constructed by the complex interplay among students´ existing knowledge,

the social context and the problem to be solved. The instructional designer should be able to pose

good problems, create group learning activities and guide the process of knowledge construction.