From medium to pedagogy: ‘fun and colourful’ lessons as a model for trainee teachers in further education colleges – questioning the postmodernist constructivist approach to classroom practice

Abstract

As a result of the ‘fragmented and largely isolated traditions of pedagogy’ in the vastly diverse further education (FE) sector, initial teacher training (ITT) courses have been difficult to design and implement. Nevertheless, the historical requirement for FE teachers to possess a teaching qualification – although now removed – has raised their historically low professional status, from unqualified instructor or trainer, to qualified teacher. No sooner are we celebrating this initiative, when a new problem arises, a problem that threatens to undermine the value of both FE teaching qualifications and ITT provision at FE colleges: a postmodernist constructivist approach that is rapidly replacing a tradition of direct instructional guidance in the ITT classroom. Under this increasingly popular scheme, trainee FE teachers are encouraged to explore and discover educational concepts for themselves, by way of discussion groups, collaborative research, and an assortment of interactive and student-led tasks that emphasise learner enjoyment, interest and motivation. This is being applied across ITT courses at a number of FE colleges, regardless of the subject and level taught by trainee teachers. It is increasingly being described as ‘modelling’ for the trainee’s own lessons with his or her learners. Nevertheless, research shows that this postmodernist constructivist approach is not a pedagogy and that it does not automatically lead to higher student achievement. The article concludes with an appeal to balance postmodernist constructivist approaches to education with didactic instruction, in the belief that such a balance will not compromise learners’ skills and expertise in their future employment.