Using andragogy to teach pedagogy: expecting heutagogy - using against-the-grain teaching practices for desired outcomes

Abstract

This position paper discusses a dichotomy that lies at the heart of Initial Teacher Education – that many of those involved in preservice teacher education identify themselves as social constructivists and espouse personal pedagogical practices that lean towards learner-centrism rather than didactic praxes but are obliged to teach in a rather more transmissionist style due to the exigencies and contingencies of the courses they run. Teaching adults is different to teaching children, but where we are teaching adults to teach children, how do we plot a course between the two extremes? The conclusions are that allowing adults to learn for themselves leads to both more effective learning and better teaching, but that within the parameters of the preservice teacher education courses run at higher education institutions in the UK, teacher educators often have to sacrifice their constructivist principles and anticipate that trainees will fill in the gaps for themselves.