THE KNOWLEDGE
PEDAGOGY, ANDRAGOGY OR HEUTAGOGY?
The rise of the agogies Covid-19 has only accelerated the trend towards learners teaching themselves, with heutagogy creating a more inclusive approach, says Kathryn Langford rovision is widening in the further education (FE) sector, with increases in higher education qualifications, apprenticeships, T Levels and 14-16 learning. Alongside this is an increase in using technology as a source of knowledge and a delivery medium, with a greater reliance on learners ‘teaching’ themselves. This has increased exponentially with Covid-19, and the need for remote classes offered to thousands of learners. For many practitioners planning sessions, it might be refreshing to return to some basic principles of inclusive learning and pedagogical structures within lessons. So where do we stand in terms of ‘agogy’? Many will remember the television adverts of the 1980s with recognition given to Maureen Lipman’s ‘ology’. By those new to the profession, pedagogy is traditionally thought of as the science of teaching children. But the term means much more than this and there has been a debate about its application as it can refer to both the act of teaching and the discourse around teaching. Pedagogy includes “the performance of teaching together
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KATHRYN LANGFORD is a
regional specialist lead (West and East Midlands) in English and Maths for the Education and Training Foundation as well as a teacher educator with Advanced Teacher Status. She is also course leader for the Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training and member of the Teacher Development Unit at City College Norwich, Norfolk
with the theories, beliefs, policies and controversies that inform and shape it”, as proposed by Alexander (2008: p3). Within FE, pedagogy is about the strategies and approaches used when teaching and, for young adults or those new to a subject or vocational area, this may include more teacher-led delivery and carefully scaffolded learning. Many English and maths students arrive at lessons with existing anxieties, reluctance and demotivation, and so will need this more nurturing approach to learning. Knowle’s 1970 theory of andragogy is linked to adults, assuming that these learners are more self-directed and active. Scales (2013: p106), however, identifies that within FE adults are not always willing or motivated as learners, limiting an andragogical approach. At the same time, 14-19 learners may be highly motivated and keen to be respected, so perhaps the focus should be on the treatment of learners and facilitation of learning, rather than their age, especially as the boundaries between compulsory and postcompulsory have ‘blurred’ since the raising of the participation age and
young people remain in education or training until the age of 19. For maths and English students, teachers require ‘practice’ to take place outside of timetabled lessons, so self-directed learning can be an essential component of future success within GCSE resits.
Heutagogy Introducing a new ‘gogy’, heutagogy, to many within the FE sector will I hope stimulate teachers to think about how they can increase learning using learners as their own teachers. Heutagogy, or self-determined learning, is scaffolded by pedagogy and andragogy and frequently facilitated by learning technologies. Hase and Kenyon (2001: p5) clarify their ideas about heutagogy as an approach “which recognises the need to be flexible in the learning where the teacher provides resources but the learner designs the actual course he or she might take by negotiating the learning. Thus, learners might read around critical issues or questions and determine what is of interest and relevance to them and then negotiate further reading and assessment tasks.”
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