Pedagog...What?

Pedagogy is a word that is turning up more and more in the articles we read, the podcasts we listen to and the professional development we embrace. This blog will break this down for everyone who is curious about what the word means and how it applies to early learning.

Pedagogy is the study and theory of the methods and principles of teaching. 

In a nutshell, pedagogy is how we educate children and help them develop. It’s the strategies you use to provide opportunities for child development and the impact of your relationship with the children.

Pedagogy looks at:

• Development
• Behaviour
• Relationships
• Culture
• Reflection

Some well-known pedagogies include:

• Reggio Emilia
• Montessori
• Waldorf
• Forest schools
• Bandura
• Schemas

In Alberta, we are fortunate to have a curriculum framework (pedagogy) that has been developed especially for our youngest residents.

“Flight is a curriculum framework intended to guide the significant work of early learning and child care educators with young children (ages 0 – before 6 years) and their families in centre-based child care and family day home settings. This is a flexible framework for thinking about how children learn and experience their worlds, as well as a guide that fosters strong early childhood communities.

Children’s play is central to this curriculum framework as an active, exploratory, creative, expressive process, deeply embedded in children’s everyday experiences and through which children participate in, learn about, and actively make sense of the world.”

Pedagogy is nothing to be fearful of! Whether your program is implementing FLIGHT or not, we should be clear on how we are delivering early learning experiences to our children and embrace the research and development behind that delivery system. If you’re curious about our province’s framework, you down download FLIGHT at https://flightframework.ca/

Please have a look at their website and take the time to read and reflect on the framework. Don’t let the language deter you! There is always something new that we can learn each day and you are a capable and committed educator who understands the value of learning. Each small step we take to improve our practice has long-lasting and positive effects on the children in our care.

What are your thoughts on pedagogy? How about FLIGHT? Head over to our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CreativeChildcareConsulting/ and share your thoughts.

Until next time,