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THE RISE AND CRISIS OF PEDAGOGY IN ACADEMIA

Wolfgang Brezinka ; A-6165 Telfes im Stubai, Tirol

Sažetak

In an historical examination of the development of pedagogy,
the author identifies four periods in which pedagogy developed from being a practical theory about the teaching arts to a science about education. Right up to the end of the 19th century, pedagogy had the status of being practical education about teaching where its academic status was still in question even after it had been established in universities. The disputed status of pedagogy as an academic discipline was something that was visible in most countries and
surrounded pedagogy until the 1960s. It was at this point that the discipline started to experience a sudden quantitative rise under the pretentious title of the “science of education”. The causes of this rise were from outside the discipline itself, and were particularly due to the number of children born after the Second World War, a lack of teachers, and the need for educational policy to engage in the empirical research of education in order to provide a basis
from which to control success, reforms and planning in schooling. All this together contributed to a quantitative development of knowledge about teaching and education, but also led to dissatisfaction with the quality of the teaching of pedagogy at universities. Pedagogy was not useful in terms of practice and offered knowledge that was of no use to anyone. The author presents and analyses five hypotheses about the causes of the crisis in pedagogy, which can be found 25 years ago in its fourth period of development. This was a time
that was notable as a period of huge expansion and particular crisis. Taking an epistemological perspective, the author concludes that pedagogy is not a discipline we can be proud of. Nevertheless, considering that it is socially essential, its level of quality needs to be raised. However, this should not be left solely to pedagogues, since stimulation and assistance needs to come from
outside the discipline.

Ključne riječi

pedagogy; science of education; the empirical research of education; pedagogy at universities; pedagogues

Hrčak ID:

28680

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/28680

Datum izdavanja:

25.6.2008.

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