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The word didactic, comes from the Greek word, to teach.
And in fact, it's a bit of a difficult word because in many other languages,
for example, other European languages,
didactic says regarded simply, neutrally,
as the science of teaching or the study of
teaching which really returns the word to its Greek roots.
But interestingly in English,
the word has got
some critical kind of negative connotations that have been attached to it.
If you're being didactic,
it's as if you're telling somebody something,
you're being overly teacherly.
It's got some critical connotations which
sometimes have a little bit of a negative edge to them.
Each pedagogical approach is imbedded in larger issues and together,
we're going to examine how these issues work
together in order to make purposeful choices.
One of the dimensions that we will
explore for each pedagogical approach that we have spoken of,
the didactic, the authentic,
and the reflexive transformative.
Well, number one, of course,
we call architectonic, and it's the space in which learning happens.
Now, space is not neutral,
the way it's organized,
whether it's in a classroom or under a tree or in a large open area,
it shapes what happens in it.
The space of learning becomes an important dimension
across each one of these pedagogical approaches and has historically been different.
The second point is what happens in that space, the discursive arrangements.
How do we talk to each other?
What kind of term, what kind of modes do we use?
Space determines that as well to some extent as
does the pedagogical choice in sense of the purpose that we have.
The third issue for us is the intersubjective component of any particular pedagogy.
By that, I mean, what kind of power is there between the actors,
between the teachers and these learners?
Who controls what happens?
What authority do learners have?
What authority do teachers have?
That plays a role and it's been different for didactic pedagogy,
it's different for authentic pedagogy,
and it is, of course,
different from reflexive and transformative pedagogy.
The fourth point is the socio-cultural dimension of any learning environment.
Who's present?
What kind of identity do they bring to it?
What kind of things do they want to express?
What are they allowed to express?
What are you not allowed to express?
Your being, as a socially,
culturally developed human being,
plays an important role in the level of engagement and
your interpretation and engagement with knowledge and has to
be factored into understanding the way in which each of
these approaches allows certain manifestations of what it is to be human.
The fifth dimension that we discuss is
the proprietary dimension of any particular learning environment.
Who's in control of this space?
Is it the teacher? Is it the student?
Is the space open?
Is the learning environment closed?
How do you belong?
What kind of freedom is allowed?
What kind of transparency?
What kind of expectations?
These all play a role and
each pedagogical approach has a different orientation to that issue.
The sixth point, we call epistemological, and that is,
ways of knowing the world.
What is included?
Is it that you have to learn authorative knowledge that somebody gives to you?
Is it that you have to explore for yourself to figure out
whether something is meaningful or not meaningful?
Do you do research and discover what works and doesn't work?
How far are you allowed to consider approaches and ways of learning and knowing?
The epistemological approach is very important
in traditional pedagogy or didactic pedagogy.
There wasn't much scope for learners to talk back to the teacher,
to not agree with what was being said to them,
to think that it was something they could bring into any particular kind of subjects.
The epistemologoical dimension of
any pedagogical approach impacts on the outcome and the experience for the learner.
And the seventh point we make, of course,
is pedagogical itself, that is,
what instructional choices are made in didactic pedagogy or
authentic pedagogy or reflexive transformational pedagogy?
These are the choices that the teacher makes,
or perhaps the teacher and the student makes what is
allowed in each approach and what impact does that have on outcomes.
And finally, the eighth point we make is moral.
What is the underlying mission or the purpose of any learning environment?
Is it to produce particular kind of people?
Is it to produce people who do as they are told?
Or is it to produce people who can express themselves in powerful ways?
Is it to create people who are curious and out there exploring the world?
Is it about the self and how the self gains more power?
Or is it about helping society and doing good in the world?
The moral purpose that underpins education is as important as
all those other dimension and is always
embedded in the choices that are made both by learners and students.
Dr William CopeProfessor
