Nada Babiæ, Ph.D., Stanislava Iroviæ, Ph.D., Zdenka Kuzma, Lecturer
University J. J. Strossmayer in Osijek
Faculty of Education, Osijek, L. Jägera 9, Croatia
The implicit pedagogy and teaching
Paper Presented at the European Conference on Educational Research Ljubljana, Slovenia 17 - 20 September 1998
Abstract
Within the study of the developmental effects od the adult – the child interaction upon the child’s autonomy (his/her competence, independence and social resposibility), in this paper we focus our attention on the value system of the adult (parent, teacher ) who “stands behind” the child’s teaching practice.
Our starting hypothesis is that is the adult’s personality that is significant variable in a social-cultural microcontext that causes differences in behaviour and in developmental effects. The achievements in the terms of expected changes demand an available structured educational context in which both the “programme” and the adult’s (parent, teacher) personality have an equal importance.
On a general social and individual level in the explicit and implicit theories of teaching the influence of the following variables are intermingled: the adult’s normative intentions, his/her teaching attitudes – a whole disposition of behaviours aquired during his/her socialization biography, as well as his/her teaching practice – the sum of the concrete actions and behaviours in educational context .Among all these we put a particular stress upon the adult’s beliefs in the child’s development (his/her nature, abilities, expectations) as they influence the child’s behaviour: a morer elaborate system of beliefs and a more accurate evaluation of the child will result in his/her more adaptable behaviour. To put it differently, on all the levels of the teaching it is the adult’s normative canon that determines the demands he/she will put on the child and the ways he/she will chose to do so.In studying the realtions between the value system and the adult’s behaviour we have focused our attention on the level of their consistency as it influences the continuity and discontinuity of teaching.
The aquired knowledge of the inter-relations of the adult’s implicit theory of the education, the teaching practice and the developmental effects help us to formulate the following statements : 1. The adult’s interaction behaviour is defined by the characteristics of his/her value system. 2. The direction, intensity and the effects of the influence upon the child’s development, more specifically upon his/her autonomy, are effectuated by the level of consistency of the value system and by the adult’s behaviour. 3. The discontinuity in the development of the childs autonomy is the result of the adult’s (parent, teacher ) changeable behaviour.
Researching the developmental effects of the adult-child interaction on the child's autonomy (competence, independence, and social responsibility) the focus of attention of this paper is the adults' value system which "lies behind" their educational practice. Much research (Hess, 1974. Perret-Clermont, 1981, Wertsch, 1984, 1985, 1988, Cole, 1985, Belmont, 1989 etc.) that investigates the significance and effects of emotional and cognitive interaction between adults and children within a family and institutional context has dealt with the interactional nature of a child's social and cognitive development. Social, cognitive, linguistic, and other competency achievements, as both desired and expected changes in children's behaviour, are accomplished by the involvement of the educational, family and institutional context, where a "programme" (on the goal and practice level)[1] and a personality of its authors and performers have the same importance.
The personality and value system of parents and teachers
The personality of an adult is a significant variable of social and cultural micro-context. Personality features, experience of personal socialisational history, former experience with children and a private educational theory (implicit pedagogy) of an adult have a significant impact on his/her educational practice. A relationship of an adult to and with a child is determined by the extent of his/her knowledge about the child and childhood in general, what sort of educational goals and developmental expectations are set before him/her, what interaction strategies he/she prefers and uses, what is his/her socialisational practice (Iroviæ, 1990, 71). Next to explicit theories about the child, childhood and child-rearing there are also implicit theories of teachers and parents as individuals, that present relatively coherent system of values, beliefs and attitudes about child's nature, possibilities and needs, developmental factors, goals of education as well as adequate and possible educational activities. The implicit pedagogy develops as a "self-construction of a personal experience" i.e. on the bases of a personal socialisational biography that turns into the source for the self-image of others. This inner mental representation is gradually incorporated into the individual personality structure.[2]But, implicit pedagogy of individuals is at the same time a "cultural screenplay" - a kind of collective wisdom (Goodnow, 1988, Kon, 1988) i.e. culturally conditioned set of conceptions, schemes, screenplays about the nature of the child, childhood and child-rearing.
The ways of adult behaviour and actions are modified by the beliefs about the child's development, evaluation of child's possibilities, educational goals and efficiency of educational actions. "More sophisticated system of beliefs and more precise evaluation will result in more adaptive behaviour" (Babiæ, Iroviæ, Krstoviæ, 1997). The autonomy/heteronomy in the cognitive and social development are primary values that reflect value systems (of parents and teachers).
The impact of the adult value system on the interaction with a child
Parental styles (a combination of the value system and educational activities) stipulate a style and nature of interaction with a child. Family educational practice influences the level of a child's social and cognitive competence through the degree of parental "demand" and responsiveness and the orientation of the interaction to a personality or a position (status) of participants. Insistence on obedience and respect of authority combined with restrictive and supervising activities leads to an addiction to external standards, intolerance to hesitations, suspicion towards contradiction, conventionality and persistence on the "proper way" of performing tasks. Evaluation of a child's personality, stimulation of exploration, free choice between alternatives, encouragement of a child's independence stimulates formation of personal value criteria, open thinking and acting, flexible incorporation of information within the present cognitive structure. The research of family interaction characteristics productive for a child's development and learning reveals that its value lies in "concentrated and individual nature of that interaction" (Dunn, 1989). It is assumed that parents, whose style of interaction is child-orientated but do not neglect their own needs either, are more successful in overcoming their own separation and individualisation as well as established personal identity (Praper, 1992). This makes it possible for them to build autonomous value orientation which emphasise the importance of values such as "achievement of personal happiness, self-control, curiosity..." (Goluboviæ, 1981).
Emotional closeness, intensity and continuity of a parent-child relationship put a parent in the privileged position in comparison to others that take part in the process of child-rearing.[3] However, changes in a modern family life, decontextualisation of upbringing and education of children, dependence on institutional forms of education and providing for children affect conditions, scope and quality of the personal interaction within a family.
Entering a pre-school institution, a child enriches his/her social world interacting with new people - adults (teachers) and peers. The programme of the kindergarten as a structured educational context, and the personality of a kindergarten teacher that is implementing it, have a strong educational effect.
It is vital that a teacher knows about the "world of the childhood" i.e. about "predictable continuity of a child's development and learning" (Bredekamp, Rosegrant, 1995) as well as about the "childhood here and now" i.e. child's unique pattern and pace of development, personality, learning style, origin (Hansen, Kaufman, Walsh, 1997). Naturally, a part of the credit goes also to the explicit "scientific" pedagogy i.e. the present theory model that a teacher familiarise with during his/her professional training. [4]
A teacher's view of a child, educational goals and procedures determines the quality of the adult-child interaction in a kindergarten. Structuring direct and indirect forms of interaction a teacher defines and models his/her own as well as a child's position, the adequate behaviour and changes in the expected set of a child's personality. According to the criterion of independence, the adult-child interaction can be free (from the child's point of view: from the choice of situation and activity to the way of participation, operating) and guided (the adult as a guide and evaluator of the process and effects).
Educational practice and developmental effects
The efficacy on the level of a process and end results is affected by the level of harmony between the normative value system of the specific social and cultural community and the individual orientation of adults (teachers and parents). On the general social and individual level in explicit and implicit theories we can notice the influence of following variables: normative intentions, points of view and educational practice - a set made out of specific actions and behaviour in institutional educational context. While researching the relation between the value system and adults' behaviour, we direct our attention to the level of their consistency that influences continuity and discontinuity of child-rearing.
The child-rearing practice is defined as an interaction of adults (teachers and parents) and a child in everyday situations. Next to the direct interaction between an adult and a child in practical, expressive and explorational situations of life we include here also indirect forms of interaction such as choice and structuring of a space and time as well as social relationships.
The point of support for the answer to a question about basic variables of a child's development and upbringing as well as a formation of a possible model i.e. paradigm of child-rearing is found in understanding of qualitative peculiarities of the current educational practice as well as in the research of its relations to the implicit pedagogy.
Knowledge about the development of cognition and thinking of a pre-school child (Piaget, 1974, 1975, Kohlberg, 1981, Vygotski, 1983, Wood, 1995), learning and teaching theories (Glaser, Bassok, 1991), cognitive and learning strategies (Belmont, 1991) provide us with the answer to the question what the optimal learning and teaching conditions are. The interaction analysis within the family and institutional pre-school context points to a high learning productivity (for a child's cognitive and social development) in the dialogue-type interaction. The adult-child relationship in such an interactional educational paradigm treats the process of learning/teaching as an interpersonal and dynamic event. An adult teacher has a role of a more competent partner and promotes a child's developmental progress by higher, more complex forms of thinking and behaviour. The adequate, continuous "instruction" of an adult, viewed as a carefully dimensioned support system, provides a child with a possibility to construct his/her own knowledge with a gradual transfer of responsibility for his/her own learning and behaviour (Iroviæ, 1998). This kind of teacher's behaviour comes from the belief in the importance of a child's already acquired experience, the need of their connection with the present situation as well as the necessity "to model a child's quest for meaning" (Isenberg, Jalongo, 1997). Delicate, continuous evaluation of the changes on the level of a child's competence will lead to the reduction of the support and guidance degree with intention to divide, and later transfer the responsibility. A dynamic, reciprocal relationship with an agreed work and responsibility division increases a child's share as a "weaker partner" in the achievement of a goal (Belmont, 1991). And the goal is - a child's taking-over of supervision and regulation of self-performance, organisation of his/her own behaviour with an independent social and cognitive self-monitoring. Changed roles of a teacher and a child result in the interaction that stresses out co-operation, faith in child's positive potential and balance between child's initiative and adult's guidance.This causes the change of a self-perception of both an adult and a child. A teacher starts to see him/herself not only as a carrier of information and standards, trainer and judge, but also as a person ready to risk, tolerant to hesitations, capable of wondering and doubting, ready for continuous learning and research, convinced in possibility of interactive learning. Gradually taking over the responsibility of a choice-making, reaching decisions, planning and evaluating of his/her own learning and achievement, a child experiences satisfaction and success, establishes self-control forming a positive self-image.
Learning/teaching strategies
The choice of learning strategies (in the family and institutional environment) is also dependant on the adult's understanding of the goal of upbringing, child's nature and his/her possibilities. If we look at the goal as the achievement of child's autonomy, and at the child as a being potentially capable of starting his/her own development, child-rearing in that case is formed as a process of child's growing-up and turning into a thinker, a planner and a pupil with developed skills of social and cognitive functioning.[5] An adult in a role of a teacher chooses a strategic teaching which moves continuously from the teacher's directive to non-directive actions. The level of a teacher's directiveness/non-directiveness is not by itself a criterion of the value of the procedure. The value is measured by its congruence with the changes in the level of child's competence. This stimulates an adult to follow child's progress systematically and continuously in order to modify the degree of support and the division of responsibility according to the rhythm of changes on the level of child's competence.
"Monitoring", a set of operations that supervise and control the learning process in order to regulate it, starts with making a diagnosis of a child's developmental level (real and potential one). It is followed by planning of goals and the learning process itself (in congruence with identified levels) with a gradual transfer of its regulation.
The development of monitoring starts with external and finishes with inner regulation (Babiæ, Iroviæ, Kuzma, 1998). So a child and his/her activity is at first completely monitored by an adult: he/she monitors and regulates the progress, sums up the results, plans next steps, solves dilemmas and contradictions, helps to integrate information into meaningful structures.
A child-adult interaction becomes the source of a child's social and cognitive monitoring which includes implicitly becoming aware and controlling one's own actions. Child's strategies of cognitive and social functioning in the interaction with an adult as a more competent partner appear first on the inter-psychic and then intra-psychic level. The development of child's strategies cannot be achieved by a mere adult manipulation of a child's external executive functioning but by their formation in learning/teaching situations where adults help children to develop more sophisticated learning strategies. At first a child applies them in actions undertaken together with an adult but after that they become his/her own actions thus representing a significant step towards child's autonomy. The child achieves decentralisation and introspection so that his/her learning becomes the object of a personal observation resulting in reflective and practical verification of a personal performance and judgement.
By the way of creating situations that respect and stimulate child's unique strategy of learning, an adult provides a child with a sense of security in exploration, in arguments about various ways and possibilities of understanding and performing a task. The dialogue about ideas, with a stimulus to research the phenomenon, to solve problems in different ways and explain the personal point of view to others (with a social and cognitive conflict) are productive ways of developing child's thinking and learning strategies. The search for meaning, identification and question formulation, observation of similarities and differences teaches a child to accept risks and challenges, to be tolerant to dilemmas.
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