Dr. Karen Ferreira-Meyers

My philosophy statement

Karen Ferreira-Meyers

 

There are many definitions of pedagogy. Perhaps the simplest is 'The science of teaching' (Oxford English Dictionary). However, the term denotes more than just a set of teaching techniques. Pedagogy encompasses:

    what is taught/learned - the content

    how it is taught or learned - approaches to teaching and learning

    why it is taught or learned - the underpinning values, philosophy or rationale.

The pedagogy framework that I choose places the learner firmly at the heart of the learning process. It promotes the idea that the learner is a partner in the learning process and that learners should be empowered to determine their own learning. As the course lecturer I have to support the learners, directly or indirectly, in all aspects of their learning journey. This means lecturers and tutors should be:

 

 

• collaborating with other individuals, agencies and organisations

• planning, organising and managing varied learning experiences

• giving feedback and guidance

• maintaining an inclusive, equitable and motivating learning environment.

The concept of the 'expert learner' is also central to current developments in personalisation where the learner is described as an active, motivated partner and not a passive, disengaged recipient.

I also feel that using the learner’s prior experience and, if possible, work experience is extremely useful. Work experience is an important and motivating element of a learning programme.

While there is no formula that will guarantee learning for every learner in every context, there is extensive, well-documented evidence about the kinds of teaching approaches that consistently have a positive impact on learning. This evidence tells us that learners learn best when lecturers and tutors:

 

 

1. create a supportive learning environment

2. encourage reflective thought and action

3. enhance the relevance of new learning

4. facilitate shared learning

5. make connections to prior learning and experience

6. provide sufficient opportunities to learn

7. inquire into the teaching–learning relationship.

Each of these seven points has its importance and finds its echo in Instructional Design and Technology principles. Below, I look at them in more detail.

Creating a supportive learning environment

Learning is inseparable from its social and cultural context. Learners learn best when they feel accepted, when they enjoy positive relationships with their fellow learners and lecturers, and when they are able to be active, visible members of the learning community. Effective lecturers foster positive relationships within environments that are caring, inclusive, non-discriminatory and cohesive. Effective lecturers attend to the cultural and linguistic diversity of all their learners.

Encouraging reflective thought and action

Learners learn most effectively when they develop the ability to stand back from the information or ideas that they have engaged with and think about these objectively. Reflective learners assimilate new learning, relate it to what they already know, adapt it for their own purposes and translate thought into action. Over time, they develop their creativity, their ability to think critically about information and ideas, and their metacognitive ability (that is, their ability to think about their own thinking). Lecturers encourage such thinking when they design tasks and opportunities that require learners to critically evaluate the material they use and consider the purposes for which it was originally created.

Enhancing the relevance of new learning

Learners learn most effectively when they understand what they are learning, why they are learning it and how they will be able to use their new learning. Effective lecturers stimulate the curiosity of their learners, require them to search for relevant information and ideas, and challenge them to use or apply what they discover in new contexts or in new ways. They look for opportunities to involve learners directly in decisions relating to their own learning. This encourages them to see what they are doing as relevant and to take greater ownership of their own learning.

Facilitating shared learning

Learners learn as they engage in shared activities and conversations with other people, including family members and people in the wider community. Lecturers encourage this process by cultivating the learner group as a learning community. In such a community, everyone, including the lecturer, is a learner; learning conversations and learning partnerships are encouraged; and challenge, support and feedback are always available. As they engage in reflective discourse with others, learners build the language that they need to take their learning further.

Making connections to prior learning and experience

Learners learn best when they are able to integrate new learning with what they already understand. When lecturers deliberately build on what their learners know and have experienced, they maximise the use of learning time, anticipate learners’ learning needs, and avoid unnecessary duplication of content. Lecturers can help learners make connections across learning areas as well as to home and work practices and the wider world.

Providing sufficient opportunities to learn

Learners learn most effectively when they have time and opportunity to engage with, practise, and transfer new learning. This means that they need to encounter new learning a number of times and in a variety of different tasks or contexts.

Teaching as inquiry

Since any teaching strategy works differently in different contexts for different learners, effective pedagogy requires that lecturers inquire into the impact of their teaching on their learners.

Inquiry into the teaching–learning relationship can be visualised as a cyclical process that goes on moment by moment (as teaching takes place), day by day, and over the longer term. In this process, the teacher asks:

 

 

• What is important (and therefore worth spending time on), given where my learners are at?This focusing inquiry establishes a baseline and a direction. The teacher uses all available information to determine what their learners have already learned and what they need to learn next.

• What strategies (evidence-based) are most likely to help my learners learn this?In this teaching inquiry, the teacher uses evidence from research and from their own past practice and that of colleagues to plan teaching and learning opportunities aimed at achieving the outcomes prioritised in the focusing inquiry.

• What happened as a result of the teaching, and what are the implications for future teaching?In this learning inquiry, the teacher investigates the success of the teaching in terms of theprioritised outcomes, using a range of assessment approaches. They do this both while learning activities are in progress and also as longer-term sequences or units of work come to an end. They then analyse and interpret the information to consider what they should do next.

I feel that the most important features of my pedagogical approach are flexibility (adapt according to your learners’ personalities, contexts and learning environments through evaluation and analysis on a continuous basis), learner-centeredness and reflectivity.