Pedagogy

"Mae Gordon Ramsey, Heston Blumenthal a'r holl gogyddion byd-enwog eraill yn eu cael hi lawer yn haws nag athrawon. Mae ganddyn nhw'r moethusrwydd o ddewis rysáit sengl i wneud dysgl berffaith. Waeth faint fyddai athrawon (a llunwyr polisi) yn ei hoffi i fodyn wir, does y fath beth â rysáit sy'n gweithio ym mhob amgylchiad mewn byd addysg yn bodoli."

"Gordon Ramsey, Heston Blumenthal and all the other world-famous chefs have it much easier than teachers. They have the luxury of choosing a single recipe to make a perfect dish. No matter how much teachers (and policy-makers) would like it to be true, in education there is no such thing as a recipe that works in all circumstances."

Dr. Pedro De Bruyckere (Educational Scientist and Author)

Response and Reflection

What is pedagogy?
If you were to write a statement explaining pedagogy - what would you write?

Pedagogy encompasses more than the ‘teaching' that takes place in the classroom.

It is about the thoughtful selection of those methods in the context of curriculum purposes and the needs and developmental stage of children and young people.

It requires combining theoretical and practical knowledge and skills with a detailed view of what is needed to promote effective learning in specific contexts.

In short, pedagogy is at the very heart of what makes an excellent teacher.

Pedagogy at the heart of curriculum.

In designing your curriculum, schools should consider the pedagogical approaches they will need to employ to support learners in realising the four purposes.

Schools should seek to develop a strong vision of learning and teaching which considers the ‘why’ and ‘how’ as well as the ‘what’.

This means that you are searching for the essence of learning in your classrooms - this is partly about content essentials (knowledge you have to teach) but mostly it is about the process and application of learning (how you teach and why learners need to understand this knowledge), all the time reflecting and progressing learners towards the four purposes.

“Nawr, barn y Weinyddiaeth yw y bydd gwybodaeth ddamcaniaethol yn fwy na digon i'ch cael chi trwy'ch arholiad, a dyna, wedi'r cyfan, yw pwrpas ysgol."

“Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about.”

Professor Umbridge, Ministry of Magic

Response and Reflection

What is your vision of learning and teaching?
What are the differences in a curriculum based on developing the purposes in your learners rather than outcomes?

The pedagogical principles

Schools will need to ensure that practitioners have a deep and thorough understanding of the pedagogical principles and the research on which they are based. Curriculum design for all learners is underpinned by twelve pedagogical principles, which state that good learning and teaching…

maintains a consistent focus on the overall purposes of the curriculum
challenges all learners by encouraging them to recognise the importance of sustained effort in meeting expectations that are high but achievable for them
means employing a blend of approaches including direct teaching
means employing a blend of approaches including those that promote problem-solving, creative and critical thinking
sets tasks and selects resources that build on previous knowledge and experience and engage interest
creates authentic contexts for learning
means employing assessment for learning principles
ranges within and across Areas
regularly reinforces the cross-curricular skills of literacy, numeracy and digital competence, and provides opportunities to practise them
encourages learners to take increasing responsibility for their own learning
supports social and emotional development and positive relationships
encourages collaboration.

Response and Reflection

What are you doing / could you do could you do to promote and embed the 12 principles?
Which of the 12 pedagogical principle(s) is (are) most effective in your school?

Do pedagogical approaches differ from area of learning to area of learning?
How will your vision for learning reflect the twelve pedagogical principles?
What learning environment do you need to create to fully support your vision for learning?

🌐 Principles for Excellence website

ERW's Principles for Excellence (PfE) is an online professional learning programme, based on the 12 pedagogical principles. The programme has been designed by teachers for teachers, with the aim of providing teachers and leaders with:

The skills to demonstrate higher level understanding of the 12 pedagogical principles included in the Curriculum for Wales guidance documentation.
The understanding to collaborate effectively with colleagues in their own school and in other schools to raise standards.
The capacity to create a proactive school ethos, where a deeper understanding of the underlying values and principles of pedagogy inform classroom practice and influence all their teaching approaches for their learners.

The PfE provides teachers with the tools to explore a principle of pedagogy in detail, reflect on research and consider how the knowledge and supplied resources could be used within classrooms to positively impact on learners.

Effective pedagogy relies on an in-depth understanding of child and adolescent development. It involves exploring and reflecting on which teaching strategies will best support learning in a given context, and inquiring about the impact of this on learners.

Curriculum for Wales

Response and Reflection

Do you consider the development of a child and the brain when thinking about pedagogical approaches?

Teachers change brains!

While we often don’t think of ourselves as brain changers, when we teach we have an enormous impact on our learners' cognitive development.

Recent advances in educational neuroscience are helping educators to understand the critical role we play in building brain capacities important to learners' self-control and learning.

Our brains are truly extraordinary; unlike computers, which are built to certain specifications and receive software updates periodically, our brains can actually receive hardware updates in addition to software updates. Different pathways form and fall dormant, are created and are discarded, according to our experiences.

When we learn something new, we create new connections between our neurons. We rewire our brains to adapt to new circumstances. This happens on a daily basis, but it’s also something that we can encourage and stimulate.

Neuroscience is the study of the brain and the nervous system. Neuroscientists work towards developing an understanding of the structure, development and functions of the brain.

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and grow throughout a person’s life. Until recently, scientists thought that this was only possible in early childhood. After that, scientists believed that the brain “solidified” and became fixed in its habits. However, research has shown that the brain continues to change even into old age.

The relationship between neuroplasticity and learning is an easy one to surmise—when we learn, we form new pathways in the brain. Each new lesson has the potential to connect new neurons and change our brain’s default mode of operation.

Of course, not all learning is created equal—learning new facts does not necessarily take advantage of the amazing neuroplasticity of the brain, but learning a new language or a musical instrument certainly does. It is through this sort of learning that we may be able to figure out how to purposefully rewire the brain.

The extent to which we apply the brain’s near-magical abilities is also dependent on how invested we are in promoting neuroplasticity.

Response and Reflection

To what extent do you promote neuroplasticity? Discuss/consider the information found in the clip below.

Neuroplasticity

Attention
Generation
Emotion
Spacing

“Mae’n haws adeiladu plant cryf nag atgyweirio oedolyn sydd wedi'i dorri.”

“It’s easier to build strong children than to repair a broken adult.”

Frederick Douglass, American Abolitionist

Response and Reflection

What is the connection between neuroplasticity and well-being?

This is significant because it shows that negative emotions and challenging mental states can be changed. They are patterns of neural firing that have formed over time by being repeated, and if we start repeating different patterns instead we will over time change the structure of the brain.

Nursery and primary school leaders identified the ethos, principles and pedagogy of the current foundation phase as a significant strength of current educational practice in Wales. A curriculum based on areas of learning and experience instead of subjects will enable schools to build on successful ‘foundation’ practice into the middle and later years of primary education and beyond.

Wales have some very real strengths upon which we can build – not least the pedagogy underpinning the foundation phase.

Supporting learning through the principles and pedagogies of the foundation phase

Foundation phase pedagogy is very much part of the vision for the new curriculum. Its principles and pedagogies should be used to support learning and provide a firm foundation for curriculum design through inclusion of:

Practical learning opportunities that build on previous experiences and support them to grow into independent learners
Experiences that allow them to adopt a range of roles, including small group leadership, paired learning or team working
Different types of play activities and a range of planned activities, including some that are initiated by the learner
Activities that allow them to use their senses and be creative and imaginative
Continued and enriched provision, and focused activities in indoor and outdoor learning environments
A developmentally appropriate curriculum where the Areas of Learning complement and work together
Different resources including ICT
Tasks and challenges that encourage problem solving and discussions.

The 12 pedagogical principles and foundation phase pedagogy are not meant to be an exact replica of each other but rather a reflection of.

Response and Reflection

Create a 3 part Venn diagram and match the 12 pedagogical principles and foundation phase pedagogy
Add in the Professional Teaching Standards to take your linked understanding further.

Let’s talk about pedagogy!

Introduce a Pedagogy Professional Learning Community. This PLC could focus its inquiry on a specific area of learning and teaching to improve learner outcomes.

Action research "… involves exploring and reflecting on which teaching strategies will best support learning in a given context and inquiring about the impact of this on learners."

Curriculum for Wales

Response and Reflection

In your school, to what extent do you consider the findings of various educational research on pedagogy?
How could conducting action research in your classroom support your school to improve pedagogy?

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