School Didactics And Learning: a school Didactic Model Framing An Analysis of Pedagogical Implication of Learning Theory

Didactics as doctrine
Didactics as theory
1
2
Instruction
(Unterricht)
Prescriptive principles guiding instruction.
Answers based on psychology, content theory and
philosophy.
Theory of instruction based on empirical research
on instruction, philosophical reflection.
3
4
Education
(Erziehung)
Normative standards concerning what values
education should realize. Answers based on
analysis of the view of man, society and nature.
Philosophical reflection and analysis of
educational philosophies (partly done within
curriculum theory).
The main idea of distinguishing between instruction and education is that the concept of “educative
teaching” advocated by Herbart is considered fruitful (Herbart, 1895/1993). In this way we can distinguish
teaching from such concepts as indoctrination and training since the concept of education implies that the
educated individual (learner) participates in decisions on what parts of a culture (values, practices, norms,
etc.) they will try to reach. Educative teaching constitutes a significant part of the process of intentional
enculturation. Through this process the individual is supported in her own intentional efforts to develop into
a socially, intellectually, and personally mature member of society.
Didactics as doctrine covers fields 1 and 3. The first field (1) refers to what has previously been defined as
the development of instructional principles based on psychology and content theory. In the third field we
find educational doctrines based on some view of man, society and nature (3). Educational history is full of
pedagogical schools of thought telling teachers how they should act (e.g. Makarenko, Montessori, Steiner,
etc.).
The second field (2) refers to theory of instruction. A descriptive theory of instruction does not tell us
how we should teach, although it considers the development of instructional principles as something to be
dealt with. Finally (4) we have the philosophy of education aiming at reflection on and analysis of
educational norms and goals. Curriculum theory also partly falls within this field.
Didactics as descriptive theory covers fields 2 and 4. It should also offer a conceptual framework for
developing instructional principles. 
Education and Individual Growth—Erziehung and Bildung
Education 
(Erziehung)
is often understood as a collective concept including all those conscious activities
which aim at affecting other individuals’ competence, knowledge, personality and value-system.
But sometimes the term education is used in a restricted sense, i.e. to refer to the intentional influence on
the development of somebody else’s personality (Schröder, 1992, p. 85)
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2. DIDACTICS AND THE TSL PROCESS
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Education can be described as an influence on the individual development of the individual to a
personality. This definition concerns the process as well as the goal of education. The process of
education can be characterized as influence. The influence can originate from fellow human beings…,
from oneself…, but also from cultural matters, values, etc.
Accepting that one can not meaningfully talk about instruction as separate from the process of education
(Erziehungsprozess)
means here that every instructional act is necessarily also value-laden and therefore an
educating act. Thus, a theory proposing to offer conceptual tools for dealing with pedagogical practice must
acknowledge both instruction and education as related to each other. If every instructional act is
simultaneously an educating act, it is also true that education is most often, though not always, realized
through instruction. This means that even though we may analytically define instruction as the enhancing of
learning, whereas education would be directed towards the development of the learner’s personality or an
individual’s identity, we must remember that when we develop a theory about pedagogical practice, both
dimensions must be covered. In this study educative instruction is therefore identical with teaching.
In the typology above, didactics as theory is defined so as to cover both instruction and education, i.e.
teaching. Understanding didactics as theory in this way also means that it is descriptive; it does not provide
any solution regarding what the goals of education should be, nor does a descriptive theory indicate what
contents should be included in education or what methods should be used. In this sense didactics is limited
to being an analytical instrument helping us to structure and understand pedagogical practice. It is thought
that a scientific theory should not answer questions requiring normative answers like the ones above. This
does not mean that one could not investigate what values are realized in some specific educational setting or
programme or why certain teaching methods or contents are chosen.
Even though it was said above that teaching is seen as educative instruction, didactics is not equated with
any theory of teaching only. As shown before, didactics is seen as the science of the TSL process. In other
words the learner’s intentional activity is stressed.
Finally, when theory of education (i.e.