Teaching as Pedagogical Praxis

This chapter reports findings of research into the practice of teaching conducted by members of the Pedagogy, Education and Praxis (PEP) international research network, much of it using the theory of practice architectures as an analytical framework. Examples of teaching practices are given across education sectors from early childhood education and care, to primary and secondary schooling, to vocational education and training, and university education, as well as from community education. The theory allows us to see different kinds of teaching practices as they unfold in intersubjective space (semantic space, physical space-time, and social space) to engage learners in different ways and to produce different kinds of opportunities for learning. Much of the research on teaching presented in this chapter used close interaction analysis to show how teaching practices unfold in synchrony with learning practices, to give new insights into the interconnected ways learning drives teaching while teaching (also) drives learning. The chapter also suggests that, in many cases, teachers’ teaching and students’ learning are jointly necessary parts of a combined pedagogical practice.