I have recently purchased a few books from Amazon, one of them being the following: Pedagogy and Practice - Culture and Identities edited by Kathy Hall, Patricia Murphy and Janet Soler. Although a little hard going at times, I am finding it extremely helpful in my understanding of pedagogy and incredibly inspirational. I particularly like the following extracts and find them to be immensely encouraging:
Pedagogy is by its nature a shaping process, and freedom, say, in choice of task may be offset by control through differentiation and assessment. Above all, we have seen the power of talk to define not just communicative competence, rights and responsibilities, but what it is to know, to understand, to learn and to be a child.
It does matter whether children encounter information technology, the arts, science or citizenship alongside the universal 'basics' of literacy and numeracy, for these can enable them to gain access to and participate in different cultural domains. Equally, a badly skewed curriculum will deny access to, and ultimately belittle and weaken, the aspects of the culture which are underrepresented.
It will take me a while to process the information that I'm learning from the book, but I have already found myself talking about it and questioning not only my understanding but also my journey as a teacher, and how that journey may continue as my experiences grow. Although there is no crystal ball enabling a glimpse into the future, the prospect of enrichment looks to be an exciting one!
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