Developing a pedagogy of teacher education: Understanding Teaching and learning about teaching-Notes

Loughran, J. (2006). Developing a pedagogy of teacher education. Understanding teaching and learning about teaching. New York, NY: Routledge.

Notes and Thoughts:

This book is divided into two main parts-Part 1-Teaching about Teaching and Part 2-Learning about Teaching.

Loughran begins by discussing the various definitions of pedagogy and notes that from a US perspective, pedagogy is often synonymous with teaching, and a "catch-all term" (p. 2) that includes procedures, practice, and instruction. Another view of pedagogy involves more than "simply teaching." [I have a small problem with this idea of simply teaching; there is little about teaching that is simple].

Based on a more European tradition, he writes, "Pedagogy is the art and science of educating children and as van Manen makes clear, focusing on the relationship between learning and teaching such that one does not exist as separate and distinct from the other is crucial to such education" (p. 2). He further explains the connection between teaching and learning with the "relationship between teaching and learning and how together they lead to growth in knowledge and understanding through meaningful practice" (p. 2). In addition, he stresses the importance of the personal relationship between student and teacher, and how each influences the other to shape pedagogy.

Loughran moves to the two foci of teacher education: 1) learning about teaching and 2) teaching about teaching. He asserts that cognitive and affective tensions affect learning, and that the cognitive domain often dominates.

"Preservice teachers should also be encouraged to be metacognitive and become more aware of how they learn in teacher education courses with the intention of informing their decision-making as they construct their personal pedagogies" (Hoban, 1997, p. 135, as cited in Loughran, 2006, p. 4). In other words, while learning content, those studying teaching should also continually be questioning what is being taught as well as how it is being taught. [I often ask the question when teaching, "What might this look like in your classroom?" I do this to encourage metacognition, but perhaps I need to add more questions. What needs to be in place prior to the lesson? How do you create an environment for this to be successful? In what situation would this lesson be meaningful? or not?] Loughran notes that many view teaching as telling or transmissive and that as teacher educators we must overtly link the content with the specifics of learning and teaching.

"...if students of teaching are to genuinely see into teaching, then they require access to the thoughts and actions that shape such practice; they need to be able to see and hear the pedagogical reasoning that underpins the teaching that they are experiencing" (p. 5). However, he cautions that this is more than modeling. It involves student teachers in viewing teaching as a space for reasoning, problem solving, responsiveness, and reflection (p. 6).

Loughran discusses the difference between episteme, or "propositional knowledge," and phronesis, or "practical wisdom" (p. 8). He states, "For students of teaching, epistemic knowledge is not immediately helpful in addressing their problems of practice" (p. 9) because the students do not often identify "the problem in the same was as the teachere educator, or more so, that they do not see the problem as being a problem" (p. 9).

My personal thoughts are in brackets [ ].