This is the first post in a three-part series to better understand common pedagogical approaches. The “Tale of Three Pedagogies” series is part of my 2015 Tri-Association Conference presentation called New Learning Now! and inspired by University of Illinois’s online master’s program in Learning Design and Leadership: New Learning.

See related posts in series: Authentic Pedagogy and Transformative Pedagogy.

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Didactic pedagogy is the oldest of the three pedagogical approaches. Its philosophies were implemented by ancient scholars as early as Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) and St. Benedict (480-543 A.D.). But didactic pedagogy became almost universally popular in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as mass, institutionalized education became prominent across the globe (Cope, 2015). It served to prepare students for industrial era work and society.

The industrial era demanded uniformity and efficiency of its workforce. The average worker performed monotonous, repetitive tasks on assembly lines such as those of Ford’s Car Factories. The typical job required just a few hours or a few days of training. Employers were happy with their modestly skilled and feeble-minded employees. An employee with too much intelligence could interfere with the expectation to follow orders and complete mundane work (See Taylor on Scientific Management).

Charlie Chaplin’s parody of factory work below emphasizes the repetitive, unskilled nature of work in the industrial era:

Though didactic pedagogy has its roots in early society and in the industrial era, it is still very much alive in today’s education system due to a variety of social, cultural, and even practical reasons (Cope, 2015).  Here, now, is a closer look at its methods.

Didactic pedagogy is teacher-centered. In this approach to education and instruction, the curriculum rules over teachers and textbooks which rule over students. Learners are simply consumers of knowledge. As Cope and Kalantzis define it, “The teacher is in command of the knowledge. His or her mission is to transmit this knowledge to learners, and learners, it is hoped, dutifully absorb the knowledge laid before them by the teacher” (n.d.). The ideal student for didactic pedagogy is passive and compliant (which corresponds to the ideal worker in the industrial era). Students memorize facts and parrot them back with little thought or interpretation. Acceptable answers are black and white, either right or wrong.

Cope and Kalantzis on didactic pedagogy:

The teacher is in command of knowledge. His or her mission is to transmit this knowledge to learners, and learners, it is hoped, dutifully absorb the knowledge laid before them by the teacher.

Communication patterns in didactic pedagogy are primarily one-way from the teacher to the students. Students have occasional opportunities to answer back to the teacher one at a time, but most communication flows through the teacher. This is consistent with industrial era hierarchies and management styles. To avoid communication between students, desks are traditionally front-facing in rows and columns. The teacher’s place is at the front of the classroom where he or she imparts knowledge with the help of a blackboard, whiteboard, or even a SMARTBoard in today’s classrooms.

Didactic pedagogy is ingrained in school organization. In many schools, learning occurs in true assembly line fashion with students transitioning from one class to the next as the bell dictates. Students are grouped based on their age or “manufacture date” assuming that is the most significant commonality they share (Robinson, 2010). Finally, standardization ensures that uniformity continues to be valued over diversity as it was in the industrial era.

Below is a sample of didactic pedagogy practices in a Japanese Cram School where young students are studying to pass an entry test into prestigious elementary schools. The result of the test will largely determine the fate of their futures. The bulk of the lesson has students practicing sample test questions from copied worksheets. It goes like this:

The teacher passes out mimeographed papers with three letters written at the top of the page, and fifteen pictures beginning with those sounds in random order beneath them. Bringing the children to seated attention and telling them to listen carefully, she gives directions only once. Speaking slowly and clearly she tells them,

‘Circle the “su” with green. Circle the “se” with red. Circle the “so” with orange. Now you may color.’

At this signal children pick up their crayons and circle the letters quickly with the appropriate color. After finishing, they line their crayons up again carefully.

‘Now look at the picture underneath. Draw a green circle around the things that start with “su” … Draw a red circle around the things that start with “se.” and an orange circle around the things that start with “so.” Now you may start.”

The teacher moves around the room correcting children who make mistakes.

Following this exercise, the teacher passes out another mimeographed page with a series of domino-like figures on it … Again, calling the children to seated attention she gives instructions only once.

‘Count the number of dots in each box. Draw one more than that number of circles in the small spaces below. Begin.’

She again moves about the room giving suggestions to children who make mistakes.

‘Use your finger when you count. How many dots are there? How many did you draw? You’re looking around the room, which is why you’re making mistakes.’

After children have finished they lay down their crayons and quietly await the next exercises.

In conclusion, didactic pedagogy originally served a society and workforce very different from that of today. Didactic pedagogy is authoritarian in nature with the teacher in command of knowledge. The best students are passive and compliant, rotely memorizing facts long enough to regurgitate them on a test. Almost all communication goes through the teacher and students are often isolated from their peers. At the school level, didactic pedagogy maintains industrial era structures such as the assembly line model of shuffling students between teachers and subjects. It upholds industrial era values of uniformity over diversity. Japanese Cram Schools are just one example of didactic pedagogy. This pedagogical approach is still very present in true or slightly diluted forms in many classrooms and schools today.

See next post in series: Authentic Pedagogy.

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References:

Aristotle. 350 BCE-c. Poetics. The Internet Classics Archive, MIT. IV, I, II, XXV, IV. Retrieved from http://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-8/aristotle-on-mimesis

Charlie Chaplin. (2010, June 18). Charlie Chaplin – Factory Work [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfGs2Y5WJ14

Cope, B. (2015). Introducing three pedagogical paradigms [CG Scholar Update]. Retrieved from https://cgscholar.com/community/community_profiles/eps-431-new-learning-2015/community_updates/23137

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (n.d.). Learning by design: Glossary: Didactic. Retrieved from http://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-8/st-benedict-on-the-teacher-and-the-taught

Ford, H. (1923). My life and work (pp. 103, 103–104, 105–106, 107–108, 110, 79, 111). Retrieved from http://newlearningonline.com/literacies/chapter-2/ford-on-his-car-factory

Lindenwood Library. (2010, March 4). 1950s student teaching [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://library.lindenwood.edu/archives/Lindenwood%20Photos/Lindenwood%20Classes/1950s%20student%20teaching.JPG

Peak, L. (1992). Formal pre-elementary education in Japan (p. 58–60). Retrieved from http://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-8/a-japanese-cram-school

Robinson, K. (2010, October). Changing education paradigms [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms

St. Benedict. (1949). The holy rule of St. Benedict (pp. Prologue, II, III, VI, VII). Retrieved from http://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-8/st-benedict-on-the-teacher-and-the-taught

Taylor, F. W. (1911). The principles of scientific management (pp. 44–46, 59). Retrieved from http://newlearningonline.com/literacies/chapter-2/taylor-on-scientific-management