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

description
of the pedagogical reality is science? It must be evident
from the previous discussion that such an understanding is not accepted in this study. To say that practice is
non-theoretical by definition is a mistake; practical action may be founded on some more or less developed
understanding of the pedagogical process. This means that pedagogical practice can be non-scientific, but
can also be scientific in the sense that it is reflected upon in a certain way. If pedagogical practice includes
both reflection and action, then at least the reflective part of practice may be scientific reflection. But what
about didactics as theory—can a scientific theory of didactics be normative? The position adopted in this
study is explicated in 
Chapter 3
.
CONCLUSION
An educational theory should acknowledge many more questions than the problem of learning in order to be
valid for the pedagogical reality in schools. Therefore a descriptive approach to educational theory seems
to be more powerful than prescriptive programmes. A descriptive theory of education is not reductionist in
character as are some normative approaches.
However, even though we accept a descriptive approach as a useful point of departure because of its
readiness to accept the complexity of the pedagogical reality, it is not necessary to try to avoid normative
and prescriptive propositions. Such propositions can in fact be developed on the basis of questions
acknowledged by descriptive theory.
Also, from the practitioner’s perspective, the normative and descriptive aspects of educational theory are
relevant. The teacher reflects in a normative fashion in the pedagogical situation as well as in planning and
evaluating a pedagogical sequence and how a specific TSL process should be organized. But in order to
understand what they are doing, teachers need to get a perspective on this activity. A descriptive theory of
education offers such a perspective. Descriptive theory may be used as an instrument focusing on problems
which require normative reflection and decisions. This is the main function of a descriptive theory of
didactics in relation to teaching practice. The teacher is thus both an acting and a reflecting subject. In fact,
pedagogical practice is characterized by these very aspects—a continuous shifting between reflection and
decision-making, planning and action, evaluation and action.
Having identified the two principal approaches of didactics, the normative and the descriptive approach,
the time has come to put forth the elements of a descriptive, analytical theory of pedagogical practice. The
conceptual model discussed in 
Chapter 3
, the descriptive school didactic theory, is designed primarily to be
valid for teaching and education in institutionalized schools. Therefore it is called a model of school
didactics. Having presented the model I will return to the question of why it is called a model of school
didactics, i.e. how that field of research is delimited. I will also clarify how the model is related to
normative problems.
The idea of presenting this model is twofold. First, the model as such has been developed within the
framework of the present project and may thus be considered as a result in itself. Indeed it is a central result
of this study. Second, the conceptual structure of the model follows the principles outlined above. This
means that the model gives us the means of handling the construction of pedagogical principles based on
learning theory within a pedagogical framework. The model is thus used as the framework for the second
part of the study, which is an analysis of the pedagogical implications of the cognitivist approach to
learning. 
2. DIDACTICS AND THE TSL PROCESS
39

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NOTES
1. “Teaching” is here understood as a synonym of the German word