Exploring the Continental Didactics Tradition within Scotland

Author(s):

Yolande Muschamp(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2012

Network:

27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching

Format:

Paper

Session Information

27 SES 05 B, Parallel Paper Session

Parallel Paper Session

Time:

2012-09-19

11:00-12:30

Room:

ESI 3 - Aula 7

Chair:

Yolande Muschamp

Contribution

The paper will present findings of an analysis of the influence of the continental didactics tradition, in particular the German didactics tradition, (Arnold and Koch-Priewe, 2011; Hopmann, 2007) on the approaches to teaching and learning which are promoted within educational policy for primary education in Scotland (Colucci-Gray, L. and Fraser, C. ,2008; Menter et al., 2004). The study aims to

1. Identify the past and present relationship between the Scottish and Continental approaches to teaching and learning through a historical study of the development of initial teacher education in Scotland.

2. Evaluate the extent to which Scotland can claim a unified national approach to primary education and its related initial teacher education through an exploration of a wide representative data set of national policy and practice documentation.

3. Compare and contrast the current Scottish approaches to emerge from this analysis with the articulation of teaching and learning found within the German tradition of didactics.

As such the analysis is a further contribution to Hudson and Meyer’ s (2011, p.11) strategy within EERA’s network 27 to explicate the ‘depth and breadth’ of different European traditions underpinned by the European policy initiative towards the greater integration of teacher education systems (European Council, 2009). The German tradition of didactics remains central to the focus of this study and provides the theoretical framework for the analysis of education policy that is promoted in Scotland. The use, development and coherence of the theoretical frameworks within the Scottish policy discourses of pedagogy are examined. The concepts of wellbeing; collaborative learning, personalisation and ‘restrained teaching’ are central to this analysis (Hopmann, 2007; Hudson, 2007; Roth; 2008; Alexander, 2000). The analysis reveals similarities in conceptual frameworks in the use of shared taxonomies; parallels in aspects of planning and implementation hierarchies; and conceptual similarities in the articulation of teaching methods. Significant difference exists however within the national texts which threaten their internal coherence.

Such an exploration is timely as the new and first independent General Teaching Council is established in Scotland and a new curriculum executive agency, Education Scotland, is created by bringing together HMIe, the schools inspectorate, and the current executive agency Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS). Whereas Scotland’s link to other English speaking countries is widely explored in the literature (Lawn et al; 2010) the continental European influences, and in particular the influence of the German didactics tradition, are often forgotten. The Scottish Government’s mandate for considering the break- up of the United Kingdom adds to the relevance of the comparison of the Scottish didactic tradition with that of a continental European neighbour. I also make these observations at time when the support for the primary school teacher’s responsibility for didactic analysis is being brought into sharper focus as a new Curriculum for Excellence is introduced

Method

The analysis of the Scottish tradition is undertaken by analysis of the policy and conceptual framework for curriculum planning and implementation embedded within a large representative data set of Scottish policy documents: The General Teaching Council Scotland’s (GTCS) Standard for Initial Teacher Education, the national inspectorate’s (HMIe), Inspection Framework for Primary Schools; the Angus local authority curriculum guidance for teachers ‘Building a Curriculum for Excellence: Linking the Learning 3-15’ and the BEd Module Descriptions within the curriculum documentation for the initial teacher education programme at the University of Dundee. In addition twenty HMIe inspection reports of primary schools in the Angus local authority provide some evidence of how these policies are implemented. Together these documents provide the foundation for and reflect the didactic approaches promoted within educational policies for the Scottish primary schools. The framework for analysis is derived from the German didactics tradition. Analysis of the Scottish approaches is complemented by a full historical analysis of the German and Continental influences on the development of policy and practice in primary education and its related initial teacher education in Scotland.

Expected Outcomes

• An overview of the historical influences on the development of the Scottish approach to primary education revealing how Scotland derived strength from the study of continental practice (Cruikshank, 1970). The paper reveals how the German didactics tradition was central to the early development of teacher education in the last century with many Scottish academics studying in Germany (for example R. Rusk at Jena). • A comparison of the ways in which teaching approaches are articulated and explained within the Scottish documentation with the key concepts of the German didactic tradition. The analysis reveals how although the terminology and classification used within the two traditions appears at first to lack common terms there are in fact many similarities which reflect a common underlying conceptual framework which can be traced historically to its original German influences. An example of this is the focus on a holistic view of the child expressed in current Scottish documentation by the concept of well being. • An evaluation of the extent to which a single, coherent Scottish approach to primary education exists and the implications of the findings for both current European and Scottish policy aspirations

References

Alexander, R. (2000) Culture and Pedagogy Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Arnold, K-H and Koch-Priewe, B. (2011) “The merging and the future of classical German tradition in general didactics: A comprehensive framework for lesson planning” in Beyond Fragmentation: Didactics, Learning and Teaching in Europe, Hudson B. and Meinert, M. (eds.) Farmington Hill, MI: Barbara Budrich Publishers Colucci-Gray, L. and Fraser, C. (2008) “Contested Aspects of Becoming a Teacher: teacher learning and the role of subject knowledge” European Educational Research Journal Vol.7 (4) 475-485 Cruikshank M. (1970) A history of the training of teachers in Scotland London: University of London press LTD European Council (2009) “Council Conclusions of 12 May 2009 on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (‘ET 2020’)” Official Journal of the European Union 2009/C 119/02 Hopmann, S. (2007) “Restrained Teaching: the common core of Didaktik” European Educational Research Journal Vol.6 (2) pp. 109-124 Hudson, B. (2007) ‘Comparing Different Traditions of Teaching and Learning: what can we learn about teaching and learning?’ European Educational Research Journal Vol.6(2)pp.135-146 Hudson B. and Meyer M. (eds) (2011) (Beyond Fragmentation: Didactics, Learning and Teaching in Europe edited by Farmington Hill, MI: Barbara Budrich Publishers Lawn, M., Deary, I.J., Bartholomew, D.J. and Brett, C. (2010) “Embedding the new science of research: the organised culture of Scottish educational research in the mid-twentieth century” Paedagogica Historica 1.25 iFirst Article Menter, I., Mahony, P. & Hextall, I. (2004) “Ne’er the twain shall meet?: modernizing the teaching profession in Scotland and England” Journal of Education Policy Vol.19 (2) pp195-214 Roth, W-M. (2008) “The Nature of Scientific Conceptions: A discursive psychological perspective” Educational Research Review Vol. 3(1)pp.30-50

Author Information

Yolande Muschamp (presenting / submitting)

University of Dundee

Education, Social Work and Community Education

Dundee

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