The best way to lead pedagogy is to talk about it, and to model it through professional learning writes DR CHRISTINE GRICE, Educational Leadership lecturer at the University of Sydney.

“Pedagogy does not only refer to the act of teaching. It also includes all elements that inform, sustain and justify teacher’s actions, values, ideas, theories, beliefs, history and evidence as well as their relationship with the local and global context… making teaching an educative process rather than a merely technical one”1.

Pedagogical leadership has taken greater prominence in schools. Assuming that Alexander’s definition of pedagogy can be accepted generally, the question is, does this apply to leaders? What is pedagogy, who has the capacity to lead it, and what is the purpose of leading pedagogy in schools today?

The Principal as Pedagogical Leader

The Australian Professional Standard for Principals and Leadership Profiles developed by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership2 sees principals as the pedagogical leaders of the school. Principals need to be pedagogical leaders, but it is impossible and undesirable for them to fulfil such requirements on their own. Leading pedagogy is claimed to be the mutual responsibility and purpose of all educators4,3,5,6.  It is the role of pedagogical leaders to encourage others to also take up this responsibility to understand the range of purposes, practices and possible outcomes of different pedagogies.

Values and Beliefs

Our teaching and learning practices are connected with our beliefs about the purpose of education, but also what policy and in-school expectations and norms expect of us. Pedagogy is, therefore, more than the connection between educational beliefs and practices. It informs every daily decision educators make, from pastoral care through to syllabus reform and everything in between.

Pedagogy is about processes, productivity and purpose6. If we narrow pedagogy only to the practices of learning and teaching, we may miss what is hidden in plain view about how teacher beliefs influence our practices within the classroom and beyond.

Pedagogical leaders have the opportunity to explore how teachers see their purpose in productive classrooms so that pedagogy is understood. As much as leaders may wish teachers were united in purpose, teachers bring very different approaches and reasons for learning into their classrooms. This is the gift and responsibility of teaching.


Dr Christine Grice, Lecturer, Educational Leadership, University of Sydney

Ideas and Actions 

The idea that pedagogy can be seen as a toolbox of teaching and learning techniques rose to prominence during the evidence-based teaching movement of the 1990’s. This view of pedagogy takes the belief that learning is a process of improvement, and as teachers we want to continuously improve our practice to influence student learning outcomes. Teachers want to know that learning opportunities are maximised. We also want to know our students and how they learn.

Pedagogy is the act of teachers and students transmitting, receiving, or co-creating shared understanding of ideas. How teaching and learning is evaluated may vary depending upon your beliefs about how learning is created and who creates it.

Theory and Evidence

If we want to build evidence about how learning is happening, we need to understand why teachers are choosing certain teaching and learning approaches. This is why theory matters. I conducted a case study of professional learning in two schools where participants were asked to define ‘pedagogy’ 6. Initially, there was little shared language of pedagogy in either school.

Definitions of pedagogy included: ‘teaching approaches’, ‘inquiry-based learning’ and ‘knowing the end’ rather than ‘activities from last year’. The participants interviewed in one school understood pedagogy as a mutual process of teaching and learning for student learning outcomes connected to their specific classroom practice. Teachers at another school shared their understandings about pedagogy: ‘the school [was] on a journey with pedagogy from the textbook driven dark ages’ to ‘outcomes driven’ approaches as they explored ‘the art and science of teaching’, ‘good practices’ and ‘intuitive reasoning’. One teacher admitted: ‘I struggle with that word. We have it in staff meetings’. This uncertainty and lack of clarity in responses from teachers, middle leaders and principals provides some evidence about the need for educators to have opportunities to further understand pedagogy and pedagogies. As one participant acknowledged, ‘everyone influences pedagogy’.

Context and History

The best way to lead pedagogy is to talk about it, and to model it through professional learning 1,6. Pedagogical leaders can help teachers to articulate and analyse their pedagogies by creating a shared vision, language, and a co-constructed pedagogical learning cultures. This may involve disagreement and dialogue among teachers as they form a deep mutual understanding of all of the elements of pedagogy. This includes curriculum ideology, and teaching and learning techniques, within the core collective purposes of knowing children and their background histories, and how they learn. This may ensure that students have the ‘best’ pedagogical experiences in your context.

Good pedagogical leaders place the emphasis on learning. A Deputy Head in my research reflected upon the leadership approaches she had seen in principals throughout her career: ‘Leading the pedagogy really depends on the leader. If that’s your passion, then you will give that priority in the professional learning; but if you’re more administrative then you’ll be more about compliance’. Just as ideas lead rather than people, pedagogical leadership is not about compliance, not about being a passive recipient of learning as a teacher, or a student.

Good, effective pedagogical leadership is shared between teachers, students, and families and the implicit messages from home are as powerful as the decisions made at school. If pedagogy can be understood, articulated, analysed and led well, it will connect all of the elements of pedagogy within their community context.

This is the hope of our profession, when all learners work creatively and productively to understand their inherent value and purpose.

References

  1. Alexander, R. (2008). Essays on Pedagogy. Oxon, England: Routledge.
  2. Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL): Australian Professional Standards for principals. Retrieved from http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standard-for-principals
  3. Day, C. (2011). Building and Sustaining Successful Principalship in an English School. In L. Moos, O. Johansson & C. Day (Eds.), How School Principals Sustain Success over Time: International perspectives, (pp. 91-108). Dordrecht: Springer.
  4. Grice, C. (2018). Leading Pedagogical Reform. International Journal of Leadership in Education, Theory and Practice 1-16. DOI: 10.1080/13603124.2018.1463462
  5. Hallinger, P. (2007). Research on the prospect of instructional and transformational leadership. Retrospect and prospect. The Leadership challenge – improving learning in schools. Australian Council for Educational Research conference archive. Retrieved at http://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference_2007
  6. Lingard, B., Hayes, D., Mills, M & Christie, P. , (2003). Leading Learning: Making hope practical in Schools. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.