Exploring More Signature Pedagogies: Approaches to Teaching Disciplinary Habits of Mind

Abstract

Signature pedagogies are described by Shulman (2005) as the "pervasive" (p.54) and "characteristic forms of teaching and learning" (p.52) of a discipline.The Socratic method in philosophy, the studio method in art and design, and undergraduate laboratory research in chemistry are a few of the examples cited by the contributing chapter authors in Exploring More Signature Pedagogies.As a follow-up to their 2008 book on the same subject, Nancy Chick, Aeron Haynie, and Regan Gurung have delved even further into signature pedagogies with contributions from the humanities and fine arts, the social and natural sciences, and interdisciplinary programs.Non-traditional fields such as Ignatian pedagogy and disability studies are also included.Contributions from England, Ireland, and Australia also expand the scope of their original work.Acknowledging that signature pedagogies are most often associated with professional schools, the final part of the book examines those "types of teaching that organize the fundamental ways in which future practitioners are educated for their new professions" (Shulman, 2005, p. 52) in occupational therapy, teacher education, social work, and nursing.As an instructional designer in higher education, the concept of signature pedagogies has provided me with insight into the ways that instructors approach their teaching.In my experience, most professors prefer to teach in the way that they have been taught.But as Shulman (2005) cautions, signature pedagogies can lead to "rigidity" (p.56)-to continuing to do things as they have always been done, whether they are useful or not.I specialize in designing courses for online learning and the vast majority of the professors I work with were not taught online.As I am always looking for innovative and effective ways to transfer what works in the classroom to the online environment-and this is no easy task, especially with instructors who have had little to no exposure in either learning online or teaching online-understanding how an instructor was trained in his or her discipline, what methods he or she has used in the classroom, and the underlying values of the discipline helps me to make the transition to online learning a more rewarding endeavour, filled with possibilities for the instructor and for the students.This is why I chose to review this book.

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