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Pedagogy (IPA: /ˈpɛdəgoʊdʒi/), or paedagogy: the art or science of being a teacher. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction.^[1] The word comes from the Ancient Greek παιδαγωγέω (paidagōgeō; from παίς:child and άγω:lead; literally, "to lead the child”). In Ancient Greece, παιδαγωγός was (usually) a slave who supervised the education of his master’s son (girls were not publicly educated). This involved taking him to school (διδασκαλείον) or a gym (γυμνάσιον), looking after him and carrying his equipment (e.g. musical instruments).^[2]

The Latin-derived word for pedagogy, education,^[3] is nowadays used in the English-speaking world to refer to the whole context of instruction, learning, and the actual operations involved therein, although both words have roughly the same original meaning. In the English-speaking world the term pedagogy refers to the science or theory of educating.^[4]

Pedagogy is also sometimes referred to as the correct use of teaching strategies (see instructional theory). For example, Paulo Freire referred to his method of teaching adults as "critical pedagogy". In correlation with those teaching strategies the instructor's own philosophical beliefs of teaching are harbored and governed by the pupil's background knowledge and experiences, personal situations, and environment, as well as learning goals set by the student and teacher. One example would be the Socratic schools of thought.^[5]

An academic degree, Ped.D., Doctor of Pedagogy, is awarded honorarily by some American universities to distinguished educators (in the US and UK earned degrees within the education field are classified as an Ed.D., Doctor of Education or a Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy). The term is also used to denote an emphasis in education as a specialty in a field (for instance, a Doctor of Music degree "in piano pedagogy").

A number of people contributed to pedagogy, among these are

• John Dewey
• Paulo Freire
• Jean Piaget
• Rudolf Steiner
• Celestin Freinet
• Maria Montessori
• Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
• Janusz Korczak
• Simon Soloveychik

• Critical pedagogy
• Educational psychology
• Contemporary Educational Psychology — a Wikibook about educational psychology
• Instructional design
• Learning theory (education)
• Horace Mann

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• Dmoz.org: Directory of Links for Pedagogy
• Pedagogy.ir – Pedagogy, Lifelong learning, Learning Environment & Performance & More
• Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, Culture
• Information on Montessori Pedagogy