“Pedagogy, literally translated, is the art or science of teaching children. In modern day usage, it is a synonym for “teaching” or “education,” particularly in scholarly writings.”
Pedagogy. (2021, January 13). New World Encyclopedia.
It is a broad umbrella term for a number of theories / approaches to learning and teaching which have informed process and practices of teachers, particularly in their roles as curriculum designers.
In the context of SPaM this domain is directly drawn from the TPACK framework where it is referred to as “pedagogical knowledge” and defined as:
“Teachers’ deep knowledge about the processes and practices or methods of teaching and learning. They encompass, among other things, overall educational purposes, values, and aims. This generic form of knowledge applies to understanding how students learn, general classroom management skills, lesson planning, and student assessment.”
(Koehler & Mishra, 2009)
Some pedagogies may be strongly aligned to subject area and discipline, although some of this is historical and so ‘critical pedagogy‘ specifically seeks to address imbalances and historical power structures relating to education.
“Critical Pedagogy is an approach to teaching and learning predicated on fostering agency and empowering learners (implicitly and explicitly critiquing oppressive power structures).
(Stommell, 2014)
In both curriculum design and educational development, pedagogy is an integral domain and more so in the context of hybrid education where online pedagogies are also increasingly prevalent alongside more established traditional pedagogies.
This framework does not seek to define or critique pedagogies but merely recognise the existence of them and the fact that they are prevalent in any learning and teaching context.
Further Information & Resources:
The Online Educator: People and Pedagogy A FutureLearn Short Course
Pedagogical Best Practices: Residential, Blended, and Online – Harvard University Guidance
You can find a full list of references for this work on the references resource page.
To cite this work:
Thomson, S. (2022, February 3). SPaM – A Framework to support the Development of Hybrid Education. SPaM Framework. https://spam.digis.im
