Dear Readers,

It is incredibly ironic how so many politicians, parents, and ostensibly concerned citizens comment on the seemingly ineffectual ways that schools and teachers pedagogically structure their classrooms and campuses, without having any understanding of how learning is accomplished.

Pedagogy: the buzzword of all buzzwords in education. The how behind every teacher.

What was once a very straightforward and clear expectation for teachers has now become a significant topic of debate and contention among educators and non-educators alike.

The primary issue is an absolute lack of knowledge surrounding the subject. Anyone can read a book with a narrow viewpoint, glance through a provocative article, or use unsubstantiated data to suggest a change in the whole framework.

It’s one thing to hold an opinion or choose a side in the debate surrounding educational pedagogy; it’s another thing to carry that same opinion while having a proper understanding of all perspectives in the argument.

This is true for anything, not just educational issues; however, it is often most pronounced in academic circles and with issues concerning education in general, particularly among those not in the field.

To fully understand the pedagogical issue plaguing American schools, you must know where we’ve come from and where we are currently heading.

The Late 19th Century

In relation to the formation of the United States, public free education is a fairly young movement. At the beginning, there was a very teacher-centered model in schoolhouses throughout the country.

Teachers were primarily tasked with lecturing. In this model, students are viewed as passive recipients of the knowledge, meaning they are expected to sit and listen, perhaps taking notes here and there. Progressive reformers referred to this as a “banking model” of education, wherein educators make “deposits” of information into students.

In an era when students and families recognized the value of education and had sufficient attention spans, this model achieved its greatest impact. In this time in history, it was a privilege to attend school, so if you did, you made the most of it. While this may do little in the form of “engaging students,” it certainly forces them to be responsible, disciplined, and otherwise focused on their learning.

Teachers at this time were considered masters of their subject matter, and it showed through their lectures. To be a teacher, one had to spend years in deep study, to be able to accurately and appropriately disseminate information. There were no curriculum companies or ChatGPT to create worksheets or pacing guides.

This teacher-led approach was the predominant pedagogy up until the middle of the 20th century.

The 20th Century

The early 20th century saw many progressive reforms. Maria Montessori introduced the “scientific pedagogy.” Emphasizing child-led, experiential learning through thoughtfully and carefully prepared environments and manipulatives, this method shifts the teacher’s role to that of a guide, rather than a transmitter of knowledge. In the Montessori method, students are given the freedom to choose their activities and work at their own pace.

It emphasizes the idea that each child has unique interests and learning styles.

Next, we see John Dewey’s “Democracy and Education,” which articulates the philosophy of a progressive education. According to Dewey, schooling should be grounded in real-life experiences, democratic participation, and problem-solving rather than just memorization. He argued that education must prepare students to contribute thoughtfully to society.

All of these ideas would underpin the driving force behind progressive educational reforms for nearly a century.

In the late 1960s, we were introduced to the concept of critical pedagogy. Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” critiqued traditional schooling methods and officially coined the as mentioned earlier, “banking model.” He advocated for a problem-posing method, where learners and educators co-create knowledge, which he believed fostered critical consciousness rather than just passive absorption.

In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education issued “A Nation at Risk,” warning of the rise of mediocrity across U.S. schools. This triggered a nationwide standard-based reform movement, focusing on core academic skills such as reading, writing, mathematics, and science. Furthermore, this movement led to the passage of the Education for Economic Security Act (1984), which allocated federal funding for teacher training in mathematics and science, provided grants to schools that excel in math and science instruction, and bolstered initiatives to improve these subjects nationwide.

The 21st Century

Finally, we arrive at what is known as “Modern Pedagogy.” This philosophy places a strong emphasis on a student-centered education. Learners are expected to construct knowledge through exploration, problem-solving, and collaboration with others.

We see the emergence of technology to support online, hybrid, and face-to-face learning.

2010 saw almost every state adopt the Common Core State Standards, a set of educational standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics. While they aim to prepare students for college and their careers, the Common Core Standards reduced the parity that states have over their education.

The beginning of this century has seen an emphasis on technology and career readiness.

Education has evolved primarily to foster economic growth.

Which is Best?

Now that we have a rough overview of how different pedagogies influence education, it’s time to answer the question everyone came here for.

Which one is the best? The crème de la crème. The peak. The standard of all standards.

The answer is much more nuanced than any of us would like it to be.

Should students be encouraged to work together and gain a deeper understanding of the world through diverse experiences? Yes.

Should teachers be masters of their craft and be able to dispel all of the knowledge necessary for their students to be successful, not only in a future career, but also in that given subject? Yes.

Should students be expected to sit and listen for an appropriate amount of time, and also take their education seriously? Yes.

I argue that often, educators spend too much time on the how but not enough time on the what.

What we are teaching students is significantly more important than how we teach it to them.

Subject matter is clueless to the pedagogy that we use to teach it. What our schools need is not a revival in pedagogy, but a revival in curriculum.

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Thanks for reading!

I appreciate you taking the time to engage with these ideas. I hope this newsletter gave you something to think about.

If you want to go deeper, check out my reading list, where I share the books that have radicalized me.

Also, I have a podcast called The Modern Republic. On this podcast, I see how many times I can say "you know" or "you know" in a thirty-minute window. It's a great time.

This week's episode:

Ep. 014: Creating a Balanced Curriculum for Students​
In this episode, I question the efficacy and dependency risks of educational technology and advocate a balanced curriculum of physical education, rigorous academics, and the arts to nurture students’ body, mind, and spirit.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Watch on YouTube.

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