Four Pedagogy's

The four Pedagogy’s as identified by Anderson (2010) are:

Behaviourist / Cognitive ~ self paced, individual study

Approximately twenty years ago, while I was a stay-at-home mum I wanted to pursue my interest in the natural approaches to healing.  When a magazine advertisement caught my attention I decided to study Homeopathic Therapies through correspondence school. The course contained 16 topics, learning material was sent out in four stages, topic content and assignments were included in each booklet and submitted through the postal system.  For the first three topics I did exceptionally well which was evidenced in my marks and the encouraging feedback from the teacher.  However over time I lost motivation and did not complete for the following reasons:

Communication - ineffective and untimely  If I had a question or needed guidance or clarification there were two options for contact, an 0800 number or the postal system.  The person who answered the 0800 number took my message and passed it on to the teacher, however I did not receive a return call for three weeks.  Barriers to student - teacher contact, feedback and limited support.

Course Materials - poor structure, design and layout  Although the content was probably accurate for its time, the printed booklets were in black and white including diagrams and drawings.  The learning materials were difficult to understand, minimal formatting, content was not structured for clarity and ease of use. Barriers to student - user friendly, engaging content

In reflection I felt a sense of isolation undertaking off-campus study, despite having the freedom and flexibility of self paced learning. Distance learning via correspondence was not conducive to my preferred visual / kinesthetic learning style and consequently contributed to loss of interest and motivation.

Constructivist ~ working in groups

 
Our Team Building days are a great opportunity for staff to get to know one another.  We are all assigned to a group and given a task to complete, for example Q & A, group discussion on a particular topic or even building a piece of furniture.  The social interactions among each group tend to give shape to the learning, knowledge is constructed and draws on the collaborative efforts so that everyones strengths, skills and perspectives are valued and supported.    

The social, collaborative learning experience makes working in groups enjoyable, everyone is able to evaluate their own learning strengths and abilities, and also gain insight to other staff members, their roles and the organization.