Understanding Pedagogy ─ Developing a Critical Approach to Teaching and Learning

What is meant by pedagogy?

How does our conception of pedagogy inform good teaching and learning?

Pedagogy is a wide-ranging concept of which student and practising teachers need to have an understanding, yet there remain many ambiguities about what the term means, and how it informs learning in the classroom.

Understanding Pedagogy examines pedagogy in a holistic way, to help student and practising teachers develop a more critical and reflective understanding of teaching and learning. It considers pedagogy as a concept that covers not just teaching approaches and pupil-teacher relationships but one which also embraces and informs educational theory, learning styles, curriculum design, statutory requirements, and relationships inside and outside the classroom. It considers pedagogy not only as the 'how' of teaching, but also the 'what' and the 'why'.

Including chapters on cognitive styles, the latest in cognitive neuroscience, personalised learning, planning and assessment, this book challenges teachers to reappraise their understanding and practice through effectively linking theory and practice. Illustrated throughout with tried and tested examples of successful pedagogical approaches in the classroom, the authors make explicit the many decisions and selections that teachers make, their implications for what is being taught and learnt, how learners are positioned in the pedagogical process, and ultimately, how learning can be improved.

Understanding Pedagogy will be essential reading for all student and practising teachers, as well those on Education Studies courses and undertaking masters level courses to engage in truly critical reflection on what constitutes effective teaching.

Michael Waring is Senior Lecturer of Physical Education at the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the Loughborough University, UK.

Carol Evans is Assistant Director for Learning and Teaching (Initial Teacher Education) at the Faculty of Culture and Pedagogy, Institute of Education, University of London, UK.