Engagement Activity 6- What is Pedagogy?

welcome to week 2!

Hello again :) This week as part of week two moodle activities we have been asked to reflect on what we have learnt about pedagogy. But first... What is pedagogy?

From what I understand, I believe that pedagogy is simply how something is taught. It includes the strategies and activities that teachers choose to use to support learners in developing content knowledge.With this subject being primarily based on e-learning and digital technologies it is needless to say that digital pedagogy is another important concept to understand. Digital pedagogy simply involves using digital technology to teach students key content knowledge and also to further their understandings of ICT.

I believe that using ICTs to teach in the classroom is extremely important as today's society uses these technologies more and more in everyday life. By using ICTs teachers can connect students to a wealth of knowledge, provide online platforms for classroom collaboration and group work and for assessment purposes. The TPACK (technological, pedagogical and content knowlege) framework supports this by stating that digital technologies are neccessary for good learning but adds that understanding content knowledge and knowing how to teach the content knowledge is still extremely important. I agree with this framework whole-heartily.

To help teachers use effective pedagogy a framework known as productive pedagogy has been created. This framework aims to improve the quality of teaching practices. I believe that this framework is very effective and useful as it encourages teachers to support students, draw on each students background knowledge, encourages self directed learning and supports students of various cultures and beliefs.

Teachers often draw upon a range of these pedagogical frameworks to create their own pedagogical approach. Currently I do not have a pedagogical approach of my own. I believe this is because I have not had enough experience in the teaching industry to stick to one approach. By trialing all the approaches presented to me throughout this course and others i will be able to eventually find an approach that suits my students and myself. I believe that this approach will continue to change depending on the students, the school and the content being taught.

Just a couple of my own thoughts,
Michelle.