Reconceptualization of the Modern pedagogy

Scientific pedagogy: the essential Maria acknowledged that: the potential of a scientific approach(experimental science) in reshaping the modern pedagogy as it is needed by the community. That both “pedagogical anthropology’ and ‘experimental psychology’ are quintessential to understand the dimension (aims and objectives) of the modern pedagogy.“pedagogical anthropology’ However, she pointed her fingers to some issues related to the ‘scientific pedagogy’ which can be denoted as misconceptions.

Areas needed to be addressed for the reconceptualization More ‘spiritual’ applications of the ‘scientific pedagogy’ than ‘material’ application. Today’s so-called scientific pedagogy is focused more on creating ‘scientific desk’ for the children. The idea of creating ‘scientific desk’ is to ensure utmost hygiene both physical and psychological. In effect, it is creating ‘curvature of the spine’. Accumulation of ‘free, natural manifestations of the child’ in the school policies if scientific pedagogy is to be utilized properly. I may relate here the story of one of my friends Farhan Qureshi. Revised policies for motivating the free imaginative power of the students replacing the traditional ‘prizes and punishments’. A free horse runs faster than that of trained one (conditional learning).

Maria’s conclusion The modern scientific pedagogy is actually ‘imposing’ some ‘instruments’ in the form of ‘scientific desk’ and ‘prizes and punishments’ which is ‘falsely’ attributed to bring discipline among the children. The aim of bringing ‘happiness’ (Nel Nodding) is missing here. She echoed Sergi’s voice: “Today an urgent need imposes itself upon society: the reconstructions of methods in education and instruction, and he who fights for this cause, fights for human regeneration.”

John Dewey’s pedagogic creed While Maria’s urge was to redefine some of the areas of the modern scientific pedagogy her article is missing, what we call, a strategic solution. She talked about bringing ‘spiritual’ elements in today’s pedagogy but did not say ‘how’. John Dewey laid down the answers to this question in one of his significant work. He perfectly named it as ‘pedagogic creed’ where, like one’s religion’ he defined his pedagogical beliefs in five articles.

The 5 Commandments! Article 1: ‘true education’ comes through the stimulation of the child’s powers by the demands of the ‘social situations’ in which he find himself. So any educational process should address two aspects: psychological and social. Article 2: The school must represent present life- the life a child carries on in the home. Hence the school is primarily a ‘social institution’ not just a place where certain lessons are learned. Article 3: The true center of correlation on the school subjects is not science, nor literature, nor history but the child’s own social activities.

The 5 commandments Article 4: The method of presenting the material must me aligned with the order of development of the child’s powers and ‘interests’. Article 5: Education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform. The society, therefore, should put an emphasis on schools as ‘the primary and most effective interest of social progress and reform in order that society may be awakened to realize what the school stands for, and arouse to the necessity of endowing the educator with sufficient equipment properly to perform his task” (liberation or democracy as suggested by Maria and Noddings)

Teacher, the conqueror! John Dewey urged the society to realize the effectiveness of the schooling system in bringing social reforms and to allow due democracy in the modern pedagogy by allocating more freedom of choice for the educators.(Article 5). That means a reverse flow of power from the society to the school. Extending Dewey’s thought George S Counts redefined the role of a teacher that should be applicable in modern pedagogy.

George’s ‘powerful’ teacher The power of leading ‘reforms’ and ‘progressions’ should be handed over to the educational system. Which means, for the educators, the possibility of becoming ‘a social force of some magnitude’ But this is subject to the condition that the teachers should display formidable courage, intelligence and vision. Teachers should deliberately reach for power without any ‘false modesty’ and them ‘make the most of their conquest’.

But the ‘shift of power’ is not an easy thing to do. Greater challenges that the society may face in doing so are: a change from ‘political’ society to ‘economical’ society, traditional social institutions and practices etc. Democracy, in the true sense, can facilitate this shift. The democracy which we are talking about is not ‘political’ rather ‘a sentiment with respect to the moral equality of man’.

Morale of the story is: Scientific pedagogy needs a revolutionary modification to act as per its potential Education leads the society not the other way round! The school is a true representative of community life. The new social order where the scientific pedagogy may function need more empowerment to the teachers. Teachers should not be scared of taking the role of leadership to bring changes in society, of course, in a positive manner!

The burning questions Given the morale of the story I am encountered with the following questions: 1. What are the ethical issues that may arise while we are thinking of ‘empowering’ the educators in our proposed pedagogy? E.g; how far ethical is it to allow the teacher to challenge the current social order and try to transform his/her students (who are presumably accustomed with the present order) to a new, progressive society? 2. What are the challenges we may face while ‘shifting the power from the society to the schools? What would be our strategies to face this challenge? 3. Maria’s ‘free horse’ may run swifter but may be in ‘wrong direction’. So, how can we ensure that the ‘free manifestation’ is not mismanaged?