Best Practice

What does pedagogy mean to you and why is this discussion important in schools?

CPD Pedagogy Teaching staff
Pedagogy has become a word that we use every day, with an assumption that we share a view on what we mean by it – but what does ‘pedagogy’ mean to you? Fiona Aubrey-Smith offers some advice to help drive CPD discussions

Every decision made in or about a school is ultimately a pedagogical decision. As Professor Neil Selwyn famously set out, we all act as pedagogical gatekeepers by opening up or locking down the choices that can be made within everyday classroom practices.

Some of these are explicit decisions – a feedback and marking policy, an approach to behaviour, lesson planning or how we organise boards and tables in our classrooms. These all directly influence relationships and interactions between teachers and students (Aubrey-Smith, 2020).

But many decisions contain implicit pedagogy – timetabling of laptop trolleys, whether to use exercise books, or the way our admin systems organise data (Twining et al, 2017).

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting Headteacher Update and reading some of our content for professionals in primary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcasts

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here