“If You Always Do What You’ve Always Done, You’ll Always Get What You’ve Always Got.” ~ Henry Ford.
Effective pedagogy- I know, that dreaded word! However, when was the last time you as a teacher or facilitator explained your pedagogical approaches that you use every day to a kaiako, or ākonga or their whānau?
Effective pedagogy for me relates to the art, craft and science of teaching and learning and it never is far from my thoughts. Whether it be when participating in professional learning or delivering it I am conscious that it shapes everything I think and do.
It focusses me on a learner centred teaching and learning approach where I am reflective in all aspects of my approach; theories that underpin my work, the practices I use and the cultural aspects that shape me and the learners with whom I work in teaching and learning that leads to a positive impact on the learner. Each learner, all learners not some but all.
I’ve been watching a few webinars recently dealing with Māori student achievement and equity in the context of education. These had common threads that both inspired and challenged me. This lead me to re-read some key research and in particular one of the chapters from Teaching to the North East (Bishop, 2019).
One quote in particular has stuck with me.
Gloria Ladson-Billings identified that “we know what teaching approaches [from research] make a difference for student learning and these are primarily interactive and dialogic” She then poses the question to reader “so how come we don’t see these being used…?”
Great question and one that should make us uncomfortable. I began to explore my thinking, values personal and educational, readings and historical perspectives. And I did have a hunch and it was based on something a friend and mentor said to me when I first began teaching adults- we teach how we were taught. This is based generally on our cultural experiences, the socio-political environment and the educational system that prevails. Historically, this is a Eurocentric model perpetuated by our schooling systems and policies.
In essence the research says
“Sociological studies of pedagogy view classroom practices as
fundamentally intertwined with broader cultural, political and
historical “ideas and values, habits and customs, institutions and
world views.” (Alexander, 2000, p. 5) Stated equivalently, such
studies interrogate the ways in which “[t]he language of society
becomes the language of the individual through the experience of
schooling.” (MacDonald, 1977, p. 14; see also; Weis, McCarthy, &
Dimitriadis, 2006; Young, 1971)”
Can you see where I am going yet?
If we are to redress a historical situation regarding the nature of pedagogical approaches that are a barrier to achievement then we must focus on enabling our ākonga to succeed. In turn this means our teaching approaches, systems and policies must be based on power-sharing methods as part of culturally-responsive and culturally-sustaining, relational pedagogies.
We as educators are culturally located just as are our ākonga and to change our approach is not easy but it can be achieved and it will make a difference to your ākonga and their whanau.
Cheryl
Associate Director and Curriculum facilitator
Further reading
Bishop, Russell. (2019). Teaching to the North-East: Relationship-based learning in practice. NZCER Press.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2000). Racialized discourses and ethnic epistemologies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 257-278). Thousand Oaks: Sage
Sleeter, Christine E., (2011) Ed. Professional Development for Culturally Responsive and Relationship-Based Pedagogy. Black Studies and Critical Thinking. Volume 24
Lim, L., Tana, M. , Saito, E. Culturally relevant pedagogy: Developing principles of description and analysis. Teaching and Teacher Education 77 (2019) pp43-52
