Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education

Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

MEANING, CONCEPT, GENERAL TYPES OF PEDAGOGICAL TECHNIQUES

AND STRATEGIES
INTRODUCTION
Pedagogy, in its simpler synonym, is the method of teaching. You the future
facilitator/teacher/educator of children in their early years is the sole responsible
person in not only articulating what you know and do but also to justify how and why
of your activities with the young children towards enhancing their development and
learning potentials. Hence a deeper understanding of the pedagogical approaches
and strategies will help you to develop, evolve and implement effective teaching
strategy.
It is a well-realised fact that though children many a time learn from adults,
peer group and the environment around them, at times they are found to be more
knowledgeable than the adults. Hence an educator should be an open-minded
person to learn and unlearn at an equal pace to foster the learning potential among
the learners.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this module, you will be able to
 Define the term pedagogy and Paraphrase that pedagogy is an applied
science
 Identify and subdivide the general components of pedagogy
 Relate the pedagogical approaches with the theoretical implications of child
development
 List the importance of pedagogy in early childhood education
 Compare and contrast the pedagogical approaches in ECE
 State the pedagogical techniques and strategies employed in the early
classroom setting
PEDAGOGY – IS IT AN ART OR A SCIENCE?
Pedagogy as an Art
From ancient times, education was assigned the status of art. Education was
considered as an art of teaching or the art of leading children to knowledge
acquisition. Teaching requires three major elements
 Vision

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Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

 Creativity
 Decision-making
Let us understand the fact that teaching is an art with an analogy – the work
of a painter and that of a teacher.
A skilled painter is one with considerable knowledge of the theories and
perspectives of colour and composition having the ability to create a spectrum of
colours with three basic forms – red, yellow and blue. The three basic colours when
put on the colour wheel with various gradations of grey creates innumerable shades.
An effective teacher is one with considerable knowledge of the theories and
perspectives of teaching techniques and learning styles, having the ability to apply
the knowledge in creating many teaching methods within the basic teaching
techniques. When the basic teaching techniques are mixed up with gradations of
creativity and a good attitude, the teacher can provide a world of experience to the
children.
Pedagogy as a Science
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, and with the emergence of
sociology and psychology as fields of study, education is viewed as Science, as the
practice of teaching was scientifically analysed in three broader areas
1. Science of child development
2. Study of how people learn
3. Research on effective teaching/ instructional strategies
As with the education being looked upon as Science, the focus was on to
teach how to teach. This is where the term ‘pedagogy’ has gained significance as a
field of study that guides the process of teaching and learning.
But it has to be accepted that ‘Pedagogy’ is not a fully formed discipline, as it
is an interdisciplinary plural science.
So, what is a pedagogy?
Pedagogy is an Applied Science
Because of its interdisciplinary plural nature, the field of study ‘Pedagogy’ is
no longer debated to be an art or a science. It is now viewed as an Applied Science,
just like the field of Medicine. Pedagogy is a field of applied study, wherein the
acquired knowledge of teaching is practically applied for effective learning outcomes.

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 Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

Pedagogy as an Applied Science

 Philosophers  Teachers
Pedagogues  Instructors
 Educational theorists
 Child development theorists

Practical skills of instruction

Theoretical aspectsand
in line with the learning
elements of teaching
potential of learners

Theoretical Applied Science Practical skills

fundamentals

DEFINITION OF PEDAGOGY
Knowing that ‘Pedagogy’ is an applied science, let us comprehend its
concept.
Pedagogy originated from an Ancient Greek word ‘Paidagogos’. Paidagogos
is a compound word with Paidos meaning child and Agogos meaning leader.
More simply, Pedagogy is the method and practice of teaching. It is a
synonym for teaching or education.
It refers to the set of instructional or teaching techniques and strategies that
enable learning to happen by providing experiences towards acquiring knowledge,
skills, attitudes and dispositions within a defined context.
It is the interactive process that takes place between the instructor and the
learner in such a way that learning takes place(Siraj-Blatchford, 2004).
It is what an educator/teacher says or does to engage children in the process
of learning and development.
It refers to how of ‘educating’.

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Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

It denotes the way the teachers deliver the content of the curriculum to a class
of learners.

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Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

EVOLUTION OF PEDAGOGY

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Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

Definition of Pedagogy related terms

Other terminologies that a facilitator should know along with pedagogy are
Pedagogical interaction
It is the cognitive or social face –to face interaction that takes place between the
educator and the learner
Pedagogical framing
It is the job behind the screen that involves the space arrangement, material
provision and time frame allotment to establish a daily routine that supports learning.
Pedagogical techniques and strategies
Those are the practices that facilitate learning
COMPONENTS OF PEDAGOGY
The term Pedagogy, as defined earlier, is a broad concept that denotes the
whole process of how learning and development take place at a particular point of
time within a said culture and society. Concerning this viewpoint, the primary three
components of pedagogy are
1. Curriculum
2. Methodology
3. Cognitive socialisation
Curriculum – It is the content of what is being taught. The content should be
designed in such a way that it fosters
 Learning process through memory, attention and observation
 Cognitive skills I terms of reasoning, comparing, contrasting and classification
 Acquisition of specific information pertinent to the content.
Methodology- It is the way the teaching is done to implement the curriculum. It
comprises of three sub-elements
 Teacher role and attitude
 Teaching style
 Instructional techniques
Cognitive socialization – This third component of Pedagogy is very much pertinent
to the early childhood classroom setting. The ECE curriculum should meet out the
expectations of the parents, the child and the society, map it up with the teaching
strategies with the needed inputs from the curriculum with due considerations of the
learning potentials of every learner in order to promote the cognitive and affective

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Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

skills that a young child needs to move through the home culture to the school
culture and then on to their transition to the larger society.
PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES
Based on the theoretical implications towards learning and development of
children, three major pedagogical approaches were derived as stated below
1. Behaviourist Pedagogy
2. Constructivist pedagogy
3. Social – constructivist pedagogy.
Let us look into each of these approaches in detail.
Behaviourist Pedagogy
This approach uses the theory of behaviourism. The theoretical implications of
Thorndike, Pavlov and Skinner advocates that a teacher acts as a single authority
figure and delivers the content using lecture, modelling/demonstrating, repetitive
learning/rote learning through reinforcement and punishment elements.
It is referred to as teacher-centred approach as it uses direct instruction and
lecture-based lessons. The pedagogy is said to be ‘Visible or Structured'. This
approach is also described as a traditional teaching style. However, at times, this
pedagogy allows the learners to demonstrate a learnt activity and hence can shift
towards learner-centric.
Constructivist Pedagogy
The theoretical perspectives of Piaget in saying that the children construct
their knowledge through schemas when provided with needed experiences supports
constructivism. This pedagogical approach puts the child at the centre of learning,
hence learner-centric. The methods of learning are through project work and inquiry-
based learning with greater emphasis on outdoor experiences. Therefore Play takes
up a dominant position in ECE. The pedagogy is said to be ‘Invisible' and described
as a progressive teaching style.
Social Constructivist Pedagogy
This approach is a blended approach of both behaviourism and
constructivism. In other words, it is both teacher – centric and learner-centric. The
theoretical inputs of Vygotsky serve as an impetus for this approach. He strongly
believes that learning not only happens with constructing knowledge through
schemas, but it is also through the interaction of the learner with the society at large

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Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

and the teacher in particular to the classroom setting. He stated that effective
learning is a collaborative process. The methods to be used in this pedagogy are
group work, brainstorming/questioning sessions with a proper mixture of individual,
small group and large group strategies.
Though these three forms of pedagogical approaches are spelt in common,
Early childhood education pedagogy is of two types based on who initiates the
experience – whether the child or the teacher.
PEDAGOGY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
For a child to develop as a confident, competent and powerful individuals,
needed stimulations and experiences have to be provided at a younger age, the age
when the brain is easily mouldable. Each child is born with powerful motivations and
dispositions to learn and can be an active agent in the society with their motivations
kept at a higher level, with appropriate cognitive and social interactions. Hence a
facilitator/educator engaged with the young minds should
 Be well-informed about the child development perspectives
 Positive attitude and interest in children
 Consider play as a powerful tool in a child's learning
 Understand the interrelationship and intrarelationship contexts of the child
 Identify real and meaningful learning contexts
Though children learn from adults, peer group and the environment that
surrounds them, at times we find them more knowledgeable and resourceful than the
adults around them. In such, what can an educator do or how can she cater to the
child's needs?
The educator should add on certain exercises in the area of teaching
practices. They are to
 Collect and document general evidence of practice
 Reflect the practices at individual and at the group level
 Explore and enquire the effectiveness of a practice
Pedagogical framework in ECCE
The pedagogy of early childhood education is of two types as per the person
who initiates the experiences – Teacher-centred and Child-centered.
Let us now compare and contrast the two pedagogical approaches within
certain concepts.

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Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

Concepts Teacher-centred Child-centred

Theoretical A child learns concepts/skills only A child gains knowledge or skill by
assumption in sequence exploring, interacting and
experiencing the environment on their
own
Framework Structured Open
Approach Highly adult/teacher directed and Entirely learner/child directed and
primarily informative largely experiential
Role of the Take the lead by providing  Respond to the interests and
teacher explicit information needs of the child
 Organise the environment and
materials to provide a basket of
learning opportunities for the child
to choose on his own
 Observe and interact with children
to provide the needed support
 Document evidence of
improvement in learning and
development potential of the child
 Interpret the evidence and arrive
at an effective strategy/solution
Role of the Actively engage without Choose one learning opportunity from
child distractions the basket at a time
Practice  Giving direct/explicit  Co-constructing
examples instruction  Questioning with constructive
 Modelling feedback
 Demonstrating  Providing cues or hints for
assistance
Learning Knowledge/skill acquisition that Child’s independence, social and
outcomes can be directly measured emotional development, creativity and
self-expression that cannot be directly

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Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

measured

These two pedagogical approaches are found to be effective when used in

combination at varying degrees, But to identify activities that work under these
combination, the basic understanding of the principles put forth by pedagogues –
namely the educators and theorists has to be revisited and a work plan has to be
formulated in deciding what has to be provided to the children to meet the goals and
demands of the early education curriculum.
Key principles of pedagogues and provisions in ECCE pedagogical framework
Before looking into the pedagogical techniques and strategies, it is imperative
to know what the pedagogy should address with particular relevance to children in
their early years. The most important areas to be addressed by the pedagogical
framework are
 Development – How do a child change in terms of learning and
development potential?
 Behaviour – How do experiences shape the behaviour of a child?
 Relationships – How does a child interact with others and the
environment as a whole?
 Culture – How does the societal culture impact the learning potential of
the child?
Researches on the pedagogical approach to ECE has concluded that a
combination of techniques and strategies were to be more effective than the
adoption of one or two strategies. So as a prospective educator, you, the learners
should be aware of the key principles put forth by theorists and educators and how
can those principles be transformed as provisions in the pedagogical framework.
The table below elaborates key principles of educators/theorists referred to as
pedagogues and how can it reshape into the pedagogy of ECE.
Pedagogues Key principles Provisions in pedagogy
Froebel  All areas of development and  Offer play opportunities
learning are intertwined relevant/appropriate to
 Play initiated by the child keeps their age
him engaged  Provide opportunities to
 Children are motivated in doing make choices, errors and

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Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

what they can do rather than decisions

what they cannot
Montessori  Identified five curriculum areas –  Provide focussed open-
practical life, sensorial, ended resources/ materials
mathematics, language and that allow children to direct
culture their play
 Safe, organised, nurtured, age-  Offer opportunities to
appropriate and developmentally develop life skills by
appropriate materials for carrying out the routine
exploration stimulated the tasks with independence
learning and development
potential
Waldorf  Familiar environment enhances  Provide as many domain-
imagination and creativity specific activities as
 Age-appropriate tasks or possible
activities in a sequence helps in  Offer chances to repeat
early learning activities as it helps to
 Doing is learning establish good habits and
develop better
perspectives
Reggio Emilia  Children can build their learning,  Education should act as a
requires only support from guide
adults, not instruction  Provide opportunities for
 Exploratory and child-led play hands-on approach
fosters problem-solving skills through drawing, singing,
 Children are natural pretend play etc.
communicators  Offer experiences for the
child to express
himself/herself
Bandura  Adults are model behaviours  Calm, respectful, positive
 Display of thought process aloud interactions to be
and exhibition of cooperation is manifested by adults
easily imitated by children  Have open discussions

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Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

that would help the

children to communicate
their thoughts
Bruner Children are active learners Provide as many experiences
and stimulations for learning
Gardner No one intelligence is better than Provide opportunities that
others foster every domain of
intelligence
Bronfenbrenner The environment has a more Nurtured, organised and safe
significant impact on the child environment to be provided

By knowing what has to be provided in the pedagogical framework of ECE as

per the critical principles put forth by various pedagogues, let us look into the
different pedagogical practices that can be used with children in their early years
TYPES OF PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGIES
If you happen to observe an effective teacher in a preschool, she will not fix
on with one teaching practice. She uses a repertoire of teaching practices. Even for
explicit instruction, an early educator is supposed to combine encouraging, modelling
and questioning with constructive feedback strategies. The modules of the next
week are all about what, why and how of various pedagogical strategies, this module
would just give you a list of all those strategies with a brief definition of the same.
The major strategies identified by National Years Access Initiative in their
Professional Pedagogy project are listed and defined below
1. Positioning
As a teaching strategy, positioning refers to careful logical placement of
learning materials in relation to objects/concepts and in relation to people.
2. Empowering
It is the technique that guides and helps children to gain a sense of inner
confidence and courage by making them believe that they are powerful.
3. Scaffolding
It is a vital pedagogical strategy coined by Vygotsky and developed by
Bruner. It is the process by which a child is temporarily guided or supported

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Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

by an adult in accomplishing a task, which otherwise the child would not

have accomplished.

4. Co-constructing
It refers to the process of collaborative interaction between the child and the
educator through which knowledge is built on a concept.
5. Modelling
The process by which an educator acts as a model by displaying or
demonstrating a behaviour, skill or attitude, so that the child imitates the
same.
6. Questioning
It is a useful pedagogical technique as children in their early years use
questions as a pathway to communicate with others. Open-ended questions
were found to be more effective in ECE pedagogy.
7. Encouraging and acknowledging
It is the process of providing positive verbal or non-verbal attention to the
child, thereby enhancing the child’s self-esteem.
8. Problem-solving
As a teaching strategy, the problem-solving technique adopted by an
educator helps children to find solutions to problems, confusions and
challenges that they face in their day-to-day tasks.
9. Documenting
It is the process of gradually building a unique and lively picture of the child
as a whole over some time, across the range of learning experiences and at
varied contexts.
CONCLUSION
Hence, effective pedagogy is an applied science as the knowledge of
teaching has to be appropriately used. It is also a science as it is informed and
supported by research. It is also an art as it requires creativity and clear vision. The
primary three components of pedagogy, namely curriculum, methodology and
cognitive socialization had provided an insight into how the pedagogy is treated as a
general concept. The pedagogical framework or approaches that have been derived
from the key principles put forth by pedagogues with particular reference to early

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Course Tile: Early Childhood Care and Education
Name of the Content Writer: Dr. K. Arockia Maraichelvi Module 21

childhood education had clearly stated the provisions in ECE setting. Moreover, a
prelude of the nine most effective pedagogical technique is listed to you, and further
modules would describe the process of each pedagogy in detail.

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