Fundamentals 2. The teaching situation

Fundamentals   Module 2 of 3

The teaching situation

Slide 2

Summary and outline

1. Summary

This slideshow presents the concept of a teaching situation, which is structured around six constant elements that interact dynamically: context, knowledge, learner, teacher, objectives, and resources.

The three registers of mediation (didactic, relational, organizational) ensure the interaction between these elements to achieve the learning objectives.

2. The outline, as shown on the slide, runs from slide 3 to slide 18. The numbers in parentheses correspond to the slide numbers.

3. Tip

To get the most out of the module, you can watch the slides, listen to the audio commentary, and read the written commentary. To read the commentary associated with the slide, click on the icon as indicated in the “text” section to the right of the slide.

Slide 3

Introduction: “The teaching situation”

1. This module on the teaching situation is the second module of fundamentals in the pedagogy training course. It follows on from the module entitled “At the heart of pedagogy: three registers of mediation.”

The teaching situation represents the structural dimension, while the pedagogical approach (Fundamentals module 3) represents the dynamic dimension. These two dimensions are complementary. To summarize, we can say that pedagogy is a dynamic system structured through the three registers of mediation: didactics, relationships, and organization.

2. The pedagogical situation is a structured configuration, an arrangement of different elements that interact and form a coherent whole.

Each pedagogical situation brings together invariant elements, which means that it can generally apply to any situation, even if their appearance differs.

In this way, a learning situation in a school setting—with a teacher, a class, a curriculum, and a timetable—shares a common structure with a tutoring situation in a company, in the context of an apprenticeship, or even in informal learning: in these three situations—school, company, informal environment—which appear to be very different, we find common elements: a learning context, knowledge to be transmitted as the object of learning, two people in a relationship (the teacher who “knows” and the learner), learning objectives, resources, and constraints.

While all teaching situations generally correspond to this configuration, each situation is unique: the elements vary from one situation to another, are more or less formalized, and are arranged in different ways. For example, for a driving instructor, their teaching activity will vary depending on each student, each of whom has their own experience and skills, but also depending on traffic and the type of route.

The aim of this module is to understand each of the six basic elements of the teaching situation, their function, and their relationships with the other elements.

Slide 4

Presentation of the teaching situation (1/2): six generic elements

1. Let’s take a quick look at the elements that make up any teaching situation, whether in school or outside of school. We will then return to each of them in more detail later on.

As already mentioned, each element may vary in form from one situation to another depending on the environment, but each element retains the same function in different situations. These six elements arise invariably in any teaching situation. They provide stable reference points that help to analyze teaching situations.

2. Context: this is the background to the teaching situation. It combines different social, cultural, economic, political, and technological dimensions.

3. Knowledge: this is a generic term which refers to the object of learning: it can be knowledge, skills, or attitudes. Each type of knowledge has its own characteristics, which teaching methods strive to take into account.

4. The learner: this is the person who is learning, with their dispositions, their personal history on a psychological, social, and cultural level, their plans, and their motivation. And all these elements, which make up their profile, are never fully accessible.

5. The teacher: they too are unique individuals, with expertise and experience in relation to the subject matter. And in relation to the learner, they have a particular attitude and relationship.

6. The objectives: at the beginning of the teaching process, they constitute the outcome of the path to be taken during the learning process. And at the end of the process, they are the possible results, with effects on the learner’s identity and, more generally, their development.

7. The resources: these are very varied and are essential for organizing and carrying out learning: tools, time, and a space for dialogue, among other things.

Slide 5

Presentation of the teaching situation (2/2): six generic elements and three registers of mediation

1. We will now briefly present the three registers of pedagogical mediation. We learned about them in the previous module entitled “At the heart of pedagogy: three registers of mediation.” These mediations combine with each other and bring the six elements that recur in every teaching situation to interact. The elements are generic and the arrangement between them, via the mediations, is specific to each situation.

2. The didactic register is related to knowledge. It allows complex knowledge to be broken down into simple components. Through learning activities guided by the teacher or educator, the learner will acquire this knowledge, starting with the simplest concepts and moving on to the more complex, thereby developing their knowledge and skills.

3. The relational register concerns the relationship between the teacher and the learner: between setting demands and kindness. It is up to the teacher to encourage and support the learner’s commitment to learning by overcoming any difficulties.

4. The organizational register involves mobilizing and coordinating the various resources available in the teaching context to enable learning: time management, tools and devices, a space for dialogue, etc.

Although these three areas of mediation are distinct, they are complementary in teaching practice and combine with each other. This is what makes the act of “teaching” a complex activity that requires method, commitment, and experience on the part of the teacher.

Slide 6

The teaching context (1/2)

1. The context of the teaching situation includes the circumstances and conditions surrounding that situation.

2. The background to the context is the general environment, which is very broad and takes into account historical, cultural, geographical, social, economic, political, institutional, and technological dimensions. These dimensions contribute to creating the context of the teaching situation. This context will influence the situation because it provides constraints and resources at a given moment, and it is on this basis that the teacher will organize the teaching process, the results of which are the intended learning outcomes.

Thus, for the same learning objective, the environment may vary : teaching a child from a privileged social background to read in a downtown school is different from teaching an illiterate adult to read in a community setting. Geographical location, political choices, institutional frameworks, and financial resources are some of the factors—the list is not exhaustive—that provide resources, support, and constraints. It should be noted that educational sociology has long highlighted the significant influence of children’s socio-economic and cultural environment on academic success, and this is backed up by statistics.

3. This does not mean that everything is predetermined by the environment, and individual factors remain very important. The same is true of the teacher’s actions. In terms of learning, nothing is ever predetermined.

We could say that the environment is imposed on us. It is stable but not immutable, and its evolution and characteristics can be a lever for success in learning.

4. Let us take two examples, one political and the other technological, which show that the environment can change and have concrete effects.

• A political example: when Minister Guizot made primary education in France compulsory for all in 1833, followed by the Ferry laws at the end of the 19th century, these political choices had a significant impact on raising the level of education in France, particularly among the working classes, for whom the change was radical.

• A technological example: even more than the slow spread of books after the invention of modern printing in 1454 by Gutenberg, the arrival and rapid spread of digital technologies offers the possibility of new teaching methods with tutorials, applications to learn foreign languages interactively, etc. Digital applications provide new teaching resources that have enabled significant developments in many areas of learning, without being a magic wand that makes all difficulties disappear (starting with the issue of the digital divide between learners).

Slide 7

The teaching context (2/2)

1. For a given environment, the context refers to the significant elements that can be mobilized in a specific teaching situation: circumstances (in terms of resources or obstacles), and conditions (more or less conducive).

2. It is up to the educator, particularly in the assessment phase of the teaching process, to establish a comprehensive and clear overview of the context of the situation in order to make the most of it, based on a pragmatic investigation. This investigation may be highly formalized (e.g., in the case of teachers, for whom teaching is at the heart of their professional activity) or rather informal (e.g., in the case of a holiday camp counselor teaching the rules of a group game to a group of children).

Slide 8

Knowledge (1/2)

1. The question of knowledge is central to pedagogy: this is why it occupies a central place in the diagram. Here, knowledge is “what the teacher must teach” the learner.

Knowledge is available in any society at any given moment and is a changing entity. Currently, the amount of knowledge available is growing significantly and is taking on an increasingly important role both in professional circles and in our daily lives. We talk about a “knowledge society.” The challenge remains to access knowledge, to distinguish between truth and falsehood, and to select the knowledge that needs to be mastered and transmitted.

2. Transmitting and teaching: this is one of the reasons why this site on pedagogy was created: to facilitate the appropriation of available knowledge, so that it can be transformed into usable knowledge, effective skills, and attitudes mastered by learners at the end of their learning process, through mediation led by teachers who are themselves minimally trained. Because possessing skills means ensuring one’s autonomy and being able to make informed choices. This is notably what the great humanist Condorcet noted in 1792, in his seminal report on public education in France.

Indeed, while much knowledge, especially that related to everyday life, can be acquired by chance (the scholarly term for this is serendipity), by trial and error, or “on the job,” i.e., through empirical practice that is refined through experience, or by imitating another person, there is a great deal of generally more complex knowledge that requires fairly structured and formalized learning. Whether it is simply reading, writing, or counting, playing chess, or using a technical tool, the mediation of a teacher who will “teach” is often necessary. Learning, that is, the process of acquiring knowledge, is thus more structured, more rational, and also faster: in a word, more effective. The teacher is not a role model but sets an example and charts a didactic and humanistic path for “teaching.”

3. This is why schools and vocational training centers exist: they are institutions designed to facilitate learning, with curricula, lines of progression, timetables, exams, diplomas, etc.

Teaching is also one of the daily functions of parents or adults towards the younger generation but also occurs between those more experienced and novices. Through the knowledge they impart, teachers contribute to the emancipation of learners. There is no freedom without knowledge, without the ability to choose, to understand, and to act with discernment.

Slide 9

Knowledge (2/2)

1. “Knowledge” is a generic and somewhat abstract term. Knowledge refers to the information acquired by a person. More specifically, we can use the three terms knowledge/know-how/interpersonal skills, which come from the work of Benjamin Bloom, a famous American psychologist of the 20th century. Moreover, recent work in cognitive psychology has led to a new vocabulary, and we now talk about knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Knowledge is often symbolic, while skills can be cognitive (e.g., knowing how to add numbers) or motor (e.g., knowing how to ride a bike). Attitudes refer to adopting behaviors and ways of being that are appropriate to the circumstances: for example, the way we do not greet a close friend in the same way as we greet our doctor, or how we sometimes need to focus our attention to succeed at a complex task.

The combination of knowledge, skills, and attitudes constitutes a competency, which allows us to act appropriately in a given situation.

2. When we talk about learning and teaching, the term didactics comes to mind (see the Fundamentals module “At the heart of pedagogy: three registers of mediation”). Didactics involves a two-fold process: on the one hand, it means breaking down or deconstructing complex knowledge into simpler elements of knowledge, and on the other hand, with the mediation of the teacher the learner will reconstruct, gradually and in a structured manner, the more complex knowledge from the simple elements, and appropriate it in order to act.

Each type of knowledge thus has its own internal logic, and the teaching activity consists of a theoretical and practical investigation of deconstruction/reconstruction that is adapted to the content to be learned. In this way, the stages of progress in learning to read are not the same as those in learning to ride a bike, bake a cake, build a roof, use medical imaging equipment, care for an elderly person to help them wash, etc.

3. Finally, it should be noted that there is a scale (known as a taxonomy) that classifies levels of knowledge from simplest to most complex. Benjamin Bloom’s work continues to serve as a reference. This hierarchy comprises six levels: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create. It is very useful for setting learning objectives rationally: to reach a given level, the learner will logically need to have acquired the knowledge that has to be learned in the previous levels. School curricula are largely written according to this logic. For ordinary learning, an empirical and common-sense approach can be useful, but this hierarchy remains a valuable resource.

It should be noted that educators can simply “apply” a program without showing initiative or seeking to adapt it. Or they can innovate by providing original educational solutions to certain challenges or obstacles that learners may encounter.

Slide 10

The learner (1/2)

1. The generic term “learner” is represented by a small owl, an animal that symbolizes knowledge and wisdom in mythology. As the name suggests, the learner is someone who learns. They are also called a pupil, trainee, student, apprentice, novice, intern, mentee, etc., depending on the context. All learners learn through study, practice, and/or experience. They build skills that will serve as resources when they need to act independently. Ideally, learning corresponds to a need, motivation, or project, and is an integral part of the learner’s development. The educator or teacher, for their part, is a mediator: they support and guide the learning process.

2. Learners relate to learning through their dispositions, their trajectory, the social and cultural environment in which they evolve, their experiences, and their personality and projects. This relationship with learning, i.e., the way in which learners perceive it and engage with it, is a key element of the teaching situation: it is the learner who is the subject of learning, and nothing can be achieved without their cooperation, support, and commitment. And, of course, nothing can be achieved against their will.

3. The teacher benefits from getting to know the learner, even if this knowledge can only be partial. It is up to the teacher to establish a relationship of trust, which does not mean relinquishing authority. Dialogue and clear rules secure the learning process and will encourage the learner to engage.

4. Through an initial assessment of the learner’s knowledge at the start of the learning process, and through information about their background and previous experiences, the teacher can begin the learning process by positioning themselves in what American psychologist Jerome S. Bruner calls the learner’s Zone of Proximal Development: if what is to be learned is too simple, the learner will not learn anything new and may quickly become bored. If it is too complex, the learner will struggle to make the connection between what they already know and what is new and, unless they persevere, may give up.

It is important that the teaching situation should take the learner’s real level into account as much as possible and at every stage of the process, and formative evaluation during the learning process should aim to verify this. Furthermore, a pace that is too fast in proportion to the learner’s abilities (but also to the effort they have put in) may lead to cognitive disengagement, i.e., disengagement from the mental processes that all subjects use to learn.

Slide 11

The learner (2/2)

1. The learner is not limited to mental processes like information gathering, memorization, reasoning, analysis, decision-making, etc. Every learner is also a complex, sensitive individual with their own identity and character. Their commitment to learning, which amounts to the energy they invest in learning, is a determining factor in their success.

2. This commitment depends in part on the relationship of trust they build with the teacher, through the atmosphere the teacher creates and the support they offer to the learner during the learning process. The teaching contract that is established, and the authority relationship that finds the right balance between strictness and kindness, are all markers that allow the learner to be recognized, to feel secure in their learning, and to feel that they have a unique place. These elements are vectors of the relationship of trust that is required for learning.

3. A space for sincere and open dialogue allows learners to take an active role in their learning. This space allows them to take appropriate their learning objectives, to express their difficulties, their feelings, and their successes, and to invest themselves in each stage of the process. In addition to their didactic expertise on the subject matter, teachers must be attentive to the quality of this dialogue space.

4. Furthermore, learners are reflective subjects: this means that they engage in a kind of invisible but strategic internal dialogue with themselves. The learner’s mental or emotional state, the interest they take in learning, the recognition they receive, the efforts they are willing to make, the difficulties they encounter, their opinion of the teacher, their self-confidence, their fear of failure—all these elements feed into this dialogue. The importance of this “inner voice” in each person’s development was identified by the famous psychologist Lev Vigotsky.

In their dialogue with the learner, teachers should realise the benefits of encouraging the expression of the learner’s inner voice and make sure it can be heard. They can then take it into account to provide support and mediation in the most appropriate way possible. A high-quality dialogue between learner and teacher allows the latter to access, even modestly, the learner’s reflective activity and to adjust their mediation to enhance learning.

5. All these elements (dialogue, rules, support, trust) help to encourage and sustain the learner’s engagement in learning activities. Learning becomes an accessible and relatively secure challenge for them, and none of the obstacles they may encounter will put them on trial. Especially if they are vulnerable, learners require personalized support to help them along the learning process. This will keep them from resorting to “defensive” behaviors that prevent them from succeeding.

The more the teacher takes into account the complex realities that characterize each learner in their relationship to learning—in short, the more they know about them—the more they will be able to anticipate obstacles and find the right adjustments to support learning on a didactic and relational level. To achieve this, they can draw on organizational resources such as the time allocated to a particular stage, the use of a tool, method, or device adapted to the learner, and personalized advice.

Slide 12

The teacher (1/2)

1. The teacher is you, either in your professional capacity or in an informal setting.

The teacher is symbolized by a large owl, reflecting their level of expertise and their symbolic status in relation to the learner. Like the learner and everyone else, the teacher has their own dispositions, character, trajectory, and plans. The teacher’s level of expertise regarding the content to be taught is extremely important. A swimming instructor needs to know how to swim, and an English teacher needs to know English to teach that language.

2. All these elements mean that each teacher has their strengths and areas for improvement, which together make up their profile.

3. A teacher’s experience increases over time, but not automatically. Experience is a valuable living resource, provided that it is the subject of reflection. This is essential for teachers to get to know themselves better. Situations that have already been experienced and analyzed, either personally with hindsight or with other people, are useful reference points for teachers, enabling them to understand the unique situations they encounter and to analyze their reactions in the course of their teaching activities, where they often they need to be able to adapt and improvise, and where, as Philippe Perrenoud says, they need to improvise in emergency situations.

4. There are many situations where the learner is not alone but belongs to a group: a teaching team in school, partners who teach in a vocational school, and work colleagues in a work-study program with a mentor. It is important for the overall consistency of learning and for the learner themselves that there is pedagogical coordination between all these actors who share the educational function at different levels.

5. However, while experience is useful to everyone, it is not always sufficient. Studying can complement experience and help provide clear guidelines. This is also the objective of this website, which is dedicated to teachers and educators.

Diapo 13

The teacher (2/2)

1. We can now agree that the learner and the knowledge to be learned are the two main characters in the teaching situation. Paradoxically, the teacher or educator should adopt a form of humility, since they are mere mediators between these two protagonists. This is a strategic role! It is unreasonable to imagine working without it, because the teacher provides the triple mediation that is at the heart of education, particularly so in cases of learning difficulties.

2. When we analyze the activity of the educator in various situations (school, secondary or higher education, vocational training, the business world, professional fields involving interactions with others such as healthcare or entertainment, everyday life, family life, etc.), we are struck by the many functions and activities that teachers perform, whether they teach professionally or informally.

They are like a Swiss Army knife, and maintaining a balance between these different functions is a constant challenge that requires a great deal of mental effort, especially for beginners.

3. Let us consider the main functions, which may obviously vary in importance depending on the context in which they take place: company tutor, classroom teacher, sports coach, volunteer guitar teacher giving private lessons to a student, etc.

We have selected four basic functions of the teacher as mediator. We return to the three registers of mediation and add the cross-cutting function of evaluation.

• Didactic function: this function, it should be remembered, allows the teacher to make the knowledge to be learned accessible to the learner through a logic of deconstruction/reconstruction. The structured and targeted activity that the teacher offers allows the learner to progress in terms of knowledge or skills.

• Relational support function: the teacher strives to stimulate and maintain the learner’s commitment to learning, creates a safe learning environment that is both demanding and supportive, builds a relationship of trust, and maintains a dialogue. This function includes an ethical dimension to their work.

• Organizational function: the teacher prepares the learning process, and mobilizes and coordinates resources (time, tools, space, and sometimes other collaborators).

• Assessment function: this function runs through the entire teaching process: from the initial appraisal to ongoing evaluations during the learning process to the final assessment, the teacher assesses and measures any deviations from their teaching plan, adapting as best they can to the circumstances while staying on course.

Slide 14

Objectives (1/2)

1. Objectives are an important part of the teaching situation: they guide learning and provide an essential point of reference. Objectives set the course. Between the starting point and the objectives, a learning path can be mapped out.

2. Learning objectives can be viewed on three different levels (macro, intermediate, and micro). However, there is a common thread that coherently links these different levels.

Macro level: Pedagogy, as a human activity, is both implicitly and explicitly part of a set of values that transcend it. It is a philosophical reflection on the place of autonomy and identity of individuals, the place of happiness, freedom, and how to live together in society: learning objectives are linked to broader educational objectives. Reflection on teaching objectives is necessary in pedagogy, because it cannot be reduced to a pragmatic and technical approach. The pedagogical choices made to achieve learning objectives are thus more or less explicitly ordered to a form of narrative or storytelling that speaks to each individual about the world as it is, the world to be transmitted, and the world to come. The teaching relationship, in both its complexity and eminent ordinariness, is a generic matrix for all human relationships, and even if not all teachers are directly aware of it, it also encompasses the horizons, values, and narratives that form the foundation of our individual and collective identities. Each learner is also an individual and social subject who is transformed through learning.

3. Intermediate level: This level concerns the learning objectives to be achieved at the end of a teaching period, which may be of varying length. In schools and vocational training, these objectives are specified in the curricula and are binding for educators (teachers, trainers, tutors) and learners. In informal settings, there is more freedom, and the specific objectives may depend on the learner’s choice: for example, they may want to learn to play a musical instrument or make progress in mastering a foreign language.

It is strategically important for intermediate-level objectives to be clear and precise, described according to the situation, formulated in terms of knowledge and skills, and possibly accompanied by success criteria that make it possible to verify whether they have been achieved. Clear and precise objectives are valuable for the educator. They will identify the gap between their initial assessment of the learner and the learning objectives to be achieved and draw up a didactic roadmap based on that assessment. This roadmap indicates the didactic path. The teaching scenario specifies the teaching organization that marks this path. It specifies the stages and describes, in particular, the learner’s activity as they progress through the learning process.

4. The objectives are also important for the learner: for them, knowing the objectives is a determining factor in their commitment to learning and mobilizing their energy and will help focus their attention on the activities that will lead them to success. Clear objectives also help them to guide their learning and to participate actively and positively in the learning process through co-evaluation and self-evaluation. Conversely, if they do not understand where they are going, learners will not see the point of what they are doing and will be more likely to give up if they encounter obstacles.

5. Objectives also serve to anticipate assessments that will measure the learner’s results step by step, both quantitatively (school grades) and/or qualitatively (evaluations). (See the thematic module: “Evaluating learning”). This makes it possible to regulate or adjust pedagogical mediation in terms of teaching, relationships, or organization whenever necessary.

6. At the micro level: a general objective can be broken down into sub-objectives or intermediate objectives, which will help structure a learning sequence. This has consequences in terms of teaching and organization and provides both the teacher and the learner with a clear reference point which, like a beacon, will allow them to determine the most relevant learning activities. Such precision makes it possible to provide targeted pedagogical responses, particularly in complex learning situations, which can be broken down into as many elements as necessary to facilitate the learner’s understanding.

Slide 15

Objectives (2/2)

1. Pedagogy focuses on learning in terms of knowledge and skills. Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy is a useful guide for “calibrating” learner activities from a didactic perspective, based on the three different levels. See slide “Knowledge” 2/2 in this presentation for more on this topic.

However, in addition to knowledge and skills, competences also include attitudes, which have long been referred to as “interpersonal skills.”

Defining them precisely in terms of objectives to be achieved is both a complex and essential challenge for teachers.

2. Complex because attitudes cannot be pigeonholed, ranked in a hierarchy, or classified in a taxonomy. They relate to the learner’s identity and subjectivity. Furthermore, they are learned, or more precisely, they are constructed over a long period of time throughout life (family, school or work, social life, personal activities, etc.).

3. Traditionally, the issue of attitudes and behaviors is raised when discussing socialization at school. At school, the goal of socialization is often mentioned alongside the term “education,” which refers to traditional learning, such as counting, reading, and writing. The objectives of school socialization—in addition to family socialization—are to enable the development and fulfillment of the child as a future social actor and citizen.

Currently, the term “soft skills” is emerging, particularly in the field of adult education and the business world. Soft skills correspond to behaviors that are expected in certain situations, in other words, mobilizing appropriate attitudes to achieve a goal and solve a problem in a given situation. Soft skills are therefore not specifically centered on learning knowledge or skills but are cross-cutting elements that are always present and are mobilized in most learning situations. These elements, sometimes regarded as peripheral, are nevertheless central.

The question of attitudes also cuts across various levels. In concrete terms, politeness, respect for others, perseverance in the face of obstacles, punctuality, respect for rules, acting within a group, gaining self-confidence, setting goals, controlling one’s behavior, taking a step back, orienting oneself, engaging in a reflective process, focusing one’s attention, all these are nearly tangible elements that enter into play in the broad concept of attitudes that are appropriate to the situation in which the learner finds themselves, regardless of their age.

The expression “learning attitudes” is almost inappropriate; the term “acquisition” seems more appropriate because it refers to a long process that is not always very or fully conscious. This process does not necessarily follow a linear and controllable progression. It articulates three complementary logics in which the teacher plays a role, particularly in terms of relational mediation. These three approaches are instilling, immersing and interacting. Through the values, norms, and roles present in the teaching situation, particularly in an institutionalized setting such as the school environment, learners engage in a process of identity construction by adhering to or sometimes opposing these approaches. On a more philosophical level, the question of learning attitudes refers to pedagogy as an instrument of subjugation or domination that aims to reproduce more or less surreptitious power relations. It can also refer to the construction of autonomy of thought and action and cultivating a form of critical thinking based on reason. This pressing question goes beyond the realm of pedagogy but also concerns it directly through the attitudes and positions of the teacher.

Although they may be difficult to grasp, teachers cannot circumvent the necessity of addressing objectives in terms of the attitudes to be acquired by the learner. We should also remember that even small gestures, which may seem insignificant or fleeting, can have an impact on others.

4. On the teacher’s side, teaching skills require reflecting on and cultivating attitudes of patience, humility, listening, authority, and organization.

Attitudes should be assessed from an educational perspective and in a qualitative manner, ideally by involving the learner themselves through dialogue. For what makes it possible for people to coexist and live together in a classroom, a neighborhood, or a country is these acquisitions that involve social bonds and personal development. The question of acquiring attitudes is a living question, in other words, it is a matter of life.

Slide 16

Resources (1/2)

1. Resources are an important part of the teaching situation. There is a diverse range of resources, whether symbolic, material or methodological, on which numerous publications have been written and firm beliefs are held. Often, a particular educational trend, model or method will emphasise a particular device or tool, or a particular approach on the part of the teacher. This can sometimes lead to dogmatic certainties. However, in education, not everything is the same! Our pragmatic approach does not consist in following particular trends. It is about finding a clear approach, which we present in the Fundamentals module “pedagogical approach”: first, the pedagogical situation must be characterised and the specific issue to be resolved, identified. Then, depending on the context, a path must be chosen according to a didactic analysis. On this path the available resources will be mobilised: this is a problem-solving approach. This approach involves three types of mediation (didactic, relational and organisational), adapted to the situation and its dynamics. And it is from this underlying logic that the question of resources arises: which resources should be used to best achieve the learning objectives in a given context?

2. Let us focus on four basic resources which the teacher, as the guide of the teaching process, can mobilise and coordinate to “make learning happen” (see also the “organisation” section in the slideshow: “At the heart of pedagogy: three registers of mediation”). These resources are not separate or juxtaposed boxes. On the contrary, they are coordinated and interconnected, ideally designed to be complementary and consistent in their implementation to give meaning to learning.

3. Time is an essential resource: the more time we have, the more we can follow a pace that is conducive to learning, and the more we can make the appropriate adjustments if the learner encounters difficulties, which are time-consuming. Time is often lacking in schools, and teachers speed up the pace of learning to “finish the programme.” A teaching scenario, even if it is not very formalised, requires time management, which is a scarce resource and should not be wasted unnecessarily.

4. The pedagogical framework: the teacher is in charge of this framework and must present it to the learner in an appropriate manner so that they understand it. An institutionalised framework (at school, in vocational training, etc.) provides or imposes specific elements: curriculum, timetable, type of activity, rules, type of assessment, group size, etc. Teachers need to be familiar with these elements to make the most of them. In less formal settings such as community groups, family or friends, there is more leeway. The framework also involves establishing rules, ideally with rights and responsibilities (e.g. at school: punctuality, doing your homework, being able to express yourself and receive help).

5. The teacher’s attitude. This is linked to the pedagogical framework and the educational atmosphere, as well as to the question of how to strike the right balance between being demanding and kindness. A demanding attitude is necessary because learning requires effort, perseverance and respect for rules, with the possibility of graduated but real sanctions if necessary. Kindness, and because making mistakes and encountering difficulties are a potential part of learning (for more details, see the thematic module: “Teaching and authority”). Indeed, an important aspect of the teacher’s attitude resides in the authority relationship they establish. Logically, their symbolic status gives them a form of authority, reinforced by their expertise and skills in the subject they are teaching. Added to that, an empathetic attitude opens opportunities for teachers to interact with learners. Empathy is the ability to put oneself in someone else’s shoes. In this case, it is the teacher who symbolically puts themselves in the learner’s place in order to better understand their attitude and reactions. This translates into active listening, rephrasing, regulating in an appropriate manner to overcome obstacles, or even demanding effort if necessary. All these elements give the learner a place in the teaching relationship and support their commitment to learning.

6. Dialogue. This resource is related to the humanistic approach of the teacher who recognises the learner as they are, including their learning difficulties. It builds trust in the teaching relationship. Dialogue obviously allows people to listen to and talk to each other. It allows them to express what they understand or don’t understand and to share their opinions or feelings. Through dialogue and by avoiding any judgement that devalues others, information about the educational situation is exchanged. As learning progresses, this makes it possible to validate a particular stage, highlight areas for attention, encourage and, if necessary, make adjustments in a responsive manner. It is a bit as in everyday life when two people have to act in a coordinated manner, where one person’s activity depends in part on the other’s: as we have already said, teaching is a co-activity and sincere dialogue is a marker of this co-activity. It greatly facilitates the teacher’s adjustments to the learner’s activities and results.

Slide 17

Resources (2/2)

1. Teaching methods and instruments are resources for learning, which can be selected, sometimes created, mobilised and coordinated in line with the educational objectives at each stage of the process. They are often confused because they are used together.

2. Teaching methods are organisational tools used by teachers to engage learners in activities. Some examples include simulated, simplified or real-life situations, lectures, note-taking, diagrams, models, films, exercises, serious games, surveys, group work, problem-solving, case studies, presentations to prepare and deliver, and the practical creation of an object or service. The list is long, and the tools can be combined. The teacher’s imagination, depending on the context, can help them to innovate and adapt what already exists. Of course, a novice or occasional teacher will primarily rely on what they know, what they have experienced or what they have been shown, or on methods already available to them. Experienced teachers will have more choice.

3. Instruments. Instruments or tools are the various material or symbolic aides used in learning.

In teaching situations that everyone is familiar with, blackboards, textbooks and notebooks are classic instruments that are the concrete aides for the teacher to guide the student’s activity.

Students learn to use instruments through their activities and, at the same time, as Rabardel points out, instruments impose constraints and possibilities and provide a framework for their work: taking notes with pen and paper is different from taking notes on a computer, for example.

In vocational training or during the acquisition of skills, simulating a situation allows students to understand work situations and to practise in a safe environment. Real work situations, which can be simplified to varying degrees, are also concrete tools for learning: for example, in driving schools, the instructor’s dual controls ensure safety to stop the student-driver from taking risks.

4. The current wealth of digital technology for learning has a bright side and a dark side ot it. Various digital devices and tools provide new, more flexible and often richer forms of mediation, including the possibility of viewing a tutorial multiple times, zooming in on a detail, breaking down a complex process, experimenting with solutions and practising with immediate assessment. Digital technology in learning raises new questions about the role and functions of the teacher: FAQs and a hybrid of distance and face-to-face learning may provide that minimum level of educational interaction which a relatively independent and persevering learner needs when they encounter a difficulty. However, this does not completely replace the interactions between a learner and a teacher who, for their part, intervenes on the three registers of mediation: didactic, relational and organisational. The digital revolution currently underway is becoming more prevalent every day, with new teaching formats being invented. In its own way, this training course in teaching is part of this revolution.

What matters is that the choice of method and tools is pragmatic and consistent with the overall approach, and that is leads to success in learning, and not to obeying a decontextualised habit or an ill-founded belief.

Slide 18

The three levels of educational mediation: didactic, relational and organisational

1. The six elements we have presented (context, knowledge, learner, teacher, objectives and resources) form the generic structure of any teaching situation.

Together, they constitute a configuration. This means that the arrangement of these elements varies according to the circumstances and the teaching approach.

The teaching situation is therefore open and dynamic.

2. The dynamics of the teaching situation are set in motion by the triple mediation which we presented in the Fundamentals module “At the heart of pedagogy: three registers of mediation.”

These three distinct and complementary registers, which combine in the teaching action, constitute the DNA of teaching and, in a way, provide the interface between the teaching situation and the teaching approach, which in turn offers a reasoned path along the partly uncertain road that leads to the learner’s learning.

The didactic register is therefore linked to the knowledge to be learned.
The relational register is linked to the tailored support that the teacher provides to the learner.
The organisational register, as we have said, mobilises the resources available in the context in a reasoned and pragmatic manner.
Success in learning enables the learner to acquire more skills to act, adapt, progress and invent. They allow them to be more independent, make informed choices, solve problems and develop as individuals.

We should also not forget that teaching, which is the activity of the teacher, in turn allows them, in a reflective process, to evolve.

Next resource: the last Fundamentals module: the teaching approach