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Editors
Nikolay Popov, Editor-in-Chief
Charl Wolhuter, Editor of Part 1
Zacharias L de Beer, Editor of Part 2
Gillian Hilton, Editor of Part 3
James Ogunleye, Editor of Part 4
Elizabeth Achinewhu-Nworgu, Editor of Part 5
Ewelina Niemczyk, Editor of Part 6
BCES Conference Books are indexed in EBSCO, ERIC, and DOAJ (Directory of Open
Access Journals).
Copyright © 2023 Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES)
ISSN 2534-8426 (online)
ISSN 1314-4693 (print)
ISBN 978-619-7326-13-0 (online)
ISBN 978-619-7326-14-7 (print)
Recovering
Education
Using the Experiences and
Learning Acquired to Build
New and Better Education
Systems
BCES Conference Books
Volume 21
This is a peer reviewed book. The relevant part editor and the editor-in-chief decide which papers
are to be reviewed. Each paper is then reviewed by at least two reviewers. Members of the
International Advisory Board are also involved in the peer review process. Finally, the
sevenmember Editorial Board takes decisions on papers to be included in the book.
International Advisory Board
Alexander W. Wiseman, Prof. Dr., Texas Tech University, USA
Bruno Leutwyler, Prof. Dr., University of Teacher Education – Zug, Switzerland
Jana Kalin, Prof. Dr., University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Joachim Schroeder, Prof. Dr., Universität Hamburg, Germany
Johannes L van der Walt, Prof. Dr., North-West University, South Africa
Kas Mazurek, Prof. Dr., University of Lethbridge, Canada
Lilia Halim, Prof. Dr., Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia
Marco Aurelio Navarro-Leal, Prof. Dr., Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, México
Nicholas Sun-Keung Pang, Prof. Dr., East China Normal University, China
Oksana Chigisheva, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Southern Federal University, Russia
Patricia K. Kubow, Prof. Dr., Bowling Green State University, USA
Peter L. Schneller, Prof. Dr., University of Mount Union, USA
Recovering Education: Using the Experiences and Learning Acquired to Build New and Better
Education Systems
BCES Conference Books, 2023, Volume 21
Popov, N., Wolhuter, C., de Beer, Z. L., Hilton, G., Ogunleye, J., Achinewhu-Nworgu, E.,
Niemczyk, E. (Editors)
Quire format 70x100/16, printed quires 19
Book size B5–ISO (17x24 cm)
Paperback, 304 pages
Published by BCES
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5
Recovering Education: Using the Experiences and Learning Acquired to Build New and
Better Education Systems
BCES Conference Books, 2023, Volume 21. Sofia: Bulgarian Comparative Education
Society
ISSN 2534-8426 (online), ISSN 1314-4693 (print)
ISBN 978-619-7326-13-0 (online), ISBN 978-619-7326-14-7 (print)
Claudio-Rafael Vásquez-Martínez, Francisco Flores-Cuevas, Felipe-
Anastacio González-González, Luz-María Zúñiga-Medina, Idalia
Castillo-González, Irma-Carolina González-Sánchez, Joaquín
TorresMata
Pedagogical Trends, Various Approaches
Abstract
When talking about pedagogical theories, the first thing to stress is that it is difficult to find
something new that has not been said before. In this field, much of what is called innovation
comes from earlier times. Theories, conceptions and research have developed a great deal in the
field of education. This means that educational systems face new challenges, with all the
limitations that this implies. It is also evident that knowledge emerges with growing force that
promotes social development. Therefore, it is necessary to implement pedagogical projects based
on advanced forms of teaching that support the training of individuals, professionals capable of
responding to the demands of the contemporary world.
Keywords: pedagogical trends, education, critical pedagogy, behaviourism, humanist paradigm
Introduction
The term ‘contemporary pedagogical trends’ designates a set of relatively
systematized ideas that have had a significant influence on the educational field during
the 20th and 21st centuries, and which start from the concept of a person that has served
as a basis for understanding education, its purposes, its protagonists, the
teachinglearning process, and ways of conducting it. These ideas have been formed
under the influence of a series of socio-historical, techno-economic, political, social,
psychological, ideological, rocrematic, and epistemological factors. This has led to the
development of the development of the techniques and the sciences related to the field
of education. These trends have appeared on the educational scene, not in a closed way,
but have been configured and modified over time. Philosophical reflection helps in the
discovery of the anthropology and ideologies, reforms, innovations, pedagogical
conceptions and doctrines that inform educational systems, and the practice of
education. In this study, we look briefly at the paradigms of critical pedagogy,
behaviourist pedagogy and humanist pedagogy.
6
Pedagogical trends
Traditional pedagogy generally continues to influence practice, although other
approaches have developed in parallel with it, since the end of the 19 th century and
during the 20th and 21st centuries. These new approaches have attempted, with more or
Copyright © 2023 by Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES). All rights of
reproduction in any form reserved. See on pages 298-300 how to cite the papers
published in this volume.
Pedagogical Trends, Various Approaches
less success, to establish criteria of a scientific nature for the development of the
teaching / learning process that go beyond their specific practices. This pedagogical
trend has incorporated some advances and influences in the course of its development,
including some of the postulates of the psychological model of behaviourism that
emerged and developed in the twentieth century. This psychological approach is one of
the most influential for traditional pedagogy in the 21st century. In the light of the task
that today’s society gives to education, to train young people to undertake the
development of science and technology, one conclusion can be reached: traditional
pedagogy is not the most appropriate way to address the task of teaching.
Critical pedagogy
Contemporary pedagogical currents are not limited to those derived from
psychology. Other currents have their principles, their categories and their theoretical
foundations in philosophy and sociology. Critical pedagogy, for example, has its source
in the philosophical-social theory of philosophers and sociologists based on the
postulates of Gramsci (2019), Freire (2019) and the theory of post-modernity of
Habermas (2010). All these thinkers have made important contributions to explaining
current problems in society and their possible solution.
Critical pedagogy focuses on the construction of a dialectical pedagogical language
and discourse given in participatory, community and democratic social relations,
through liberating actions and practices. It aims to enhance the role of subjects through
the exercise of criticism and their imagination, so that they engage in educational action
for the benefit of democratic, fair and equitable social organization.
The union between theory and practice is fundamental in education. The
philosophy, the history and the sociology of education are inseparable. This union of
theory and practice brings thought alive; it transforms.
Behaviourism
Behaviourism has its roots in the philosophical tradition of empiricism. According
to this position, knowledge is a copy of reality, and is accumulated by simple
associative mechanisms.
In empiricist epistemology, the knowing subject is the passive recipient of the
deterministic impressions of external objects. According to the empiricists, knowledge
is composed of sensations and ideas, and the associations between them. The origin of
knowledge is in the sensations and impressions, which are mere copies or reflections of
reality; any idea that the subject plays an active role in determining their own behaviour
is dismissed.
7
Behaviourism (particularly Skinnerian behaviourism) is primarily anti-theoretical
and consistent with empiricist epistemology. Behaviourists use the SR (stimulus –
response) model as a fundamental scheme for their descriptions and explanations of the
behaviour of organisms.
Behaviourism applied to education has created a strong tradition in educational
psychology, starting from the earliest writings of Skinner (1989). According to
behaviourists, the instructional process consists of the appropriate arrangement of
conditional reinforcement, in order to promote student learning efficiently. Any
academic behaviour can be taught in a timely manner, if there is an effective
instructional programme based on a detailed analysis of student responses and their
Part 3: School Education: Policies, Innovations, Practices & Entrepreneurship
Claudio-Rafael Vásquez-Martínez et al.
reinforcement. Teaching is simply the provision of conditional rewards (Skinner, 1989).
Another characteristic of this approach is the assumption that teaching consists of
providing content or information, that is, in placing information around the student,
which he or she will have to acquire.
The humanist paradigm
The humanist paradigm analyses the socio-affective domain and interpersonal
relationships. Like behaviourism, it is driven by a hypothesis, and its theoretical plans
and schemes have been practised in the educational field, with adjustments made
according to the context. Research focuses on the refinement and validation of practices
derived from the paradigm.
The central issue relates to the problems of the whole person. The human
personality is conceived as an organization that is in a process of continuous
development. To explain and understand the person properly, he or she must be studied
in their interpersonal and social context. Explanations must frame the person as the
source of their whole personal development.
From the point of view of humanists, education should focus on helping students to
decide what they are and what they want to become. Humanistic education is based on
the idea that all students are different and helps them to be more like themselves and
less like others. In this sense, it is considered necessary to help students to explore and
understand themselves and the meanings of their lived experiences (Delgado-Linares,
2014).
According to Delgado-Linares (2014), the major goals of education are:
•To help develop the individuality of people;
•To help students to recognize themselves as unique human beings;
•To help students to develop their potential.
The students are seen as completely unique individuals, different from all others,
and it is firmly believed that at the end of the academic experience this uniqueness of
the students as people will be respected and even enhanced. Students are seen as beings
with initiative, with personal needs to grow, to have feelings and to have particular
experiences.
Teachers are seen as facilitators of the students’ potential for self-realization.
Didactic efforts must be directed to the goal of promoting activities of the students that
are self-directed, and stimulate self-learning and creativity.
BCES Conference Books, 2023, Volume 21 |
8
The teacher should not limit or put restrictions on the delivery of pedagogical
materials, but rather should provide students with all that are available (Rogers, 1994).
Gutiérrez-Vazquez (2008) mentions the important traits that the teacher must
possess:
•Interested in the students as whole persons;
•Openness to new forms of teaching and educational options;
•Ability to foster the cooperative spirit of students;
•Ability to engage with students as they are, authentic and genuine;
•Have an empathetic understanding of students, the ability to see things from
their perspective, and have a sensitive attitude to their perceptions and feelings;
•Ability to reject authoritarian and egocentric positions.
Recovering Education: Using the Experiences and Learning Acquired to Build New and
Better Education Systems Pedagogical Trends, Various Approaches
The humanist educational programme does not offer a formalized theory of
institutions, but proposes a series of techniques in order to achieve a better
understanding of the behaviour of students, to improve the climate of respect, to give
students the opportunity to develop their potential and achieve meaningful experiential
learning in school.
To achieve the goals of humanistic behaviour, some steps are necessary:
•Programmes should be flexible and be open to students;
•Meaningful experiential learning must be provided;
•The creative behaviour of students should be given primacy;
•Students should be given autonomy;
•Students must be given the opportunity to cooperate;
•Students should be given the opportunity to evaluate themselves and their own
work.
Rogers (1994) is a humanist who has most adequately analysed the concept of
learning. For Rogers (1994), the human being has an innate capacity for
selfdevelopment, and if this capacity is not hindered, learning will develop in a timely
manner. Humanist education involves the person as a whole (affective and cognitive
processes) and unfolds in a natural or experiential way.
Conclusion
Among socio-educational paradigms, critical pedagogy focuses on the construction
of a language and a dialectical pedagogical discourse that supports participatory,
cooperative, community and democratic social relations, through liberating practices
and actions (Freire, 2019).
Behaviourism is regulated by the hypotheses, principles and laws of empiricism
and the experimental analysis of behaviour. Behaviourists regard teaching as a simple
arrangement of conditional reinforcement. The student is seen as a passive, isolated
being whose participation is restricted by structured programmes and complex school
controls. Teaching is transmitting knowledge; he who is taught learns faster than he
who teaches himself (Skinner, 1989).
The teacher is conceived as a behavioural engineer who makes contingent
arrangements to increase desirable behaviours and decrease undesirable ones. One of
9
the contributions of the paradigm to education is programmed teaching, which is based
on the systemic arrangement of the environment (books, online courses) which is
designed using behavioural principles to achieve the desired results. Finally,
behaviourists evaluate student behaviour using instruments that objectively measure
behaviour (psycho-pedagogical tests).
The humanist paradigm is not monolithic, and is developed from the philosophical
currents of existentialism and phenomenology, as well as from clinical practice and the
reflections of humanist psychologists. It is configured as a theoretical / practical scheme
with its own identity. The central problem of this paradigm is to analyse and study the
processes of the whole person, since human personality has a structure and organization
that is in a continuous process of development.
The two theoretical currents that serve as the foundation of the humanist paradigm
are existentialism and phenomenology. From the former comes the idea that the person
is created by their own choices, and from the latter, the study of external or internal
perception as a subjective process. The theoretical assumptions of this paradigm
Part 3: School Education: Policies, Innovations, Practices & Entrepreneurship
Claudio-Rafael Vásquez-Martínez et al.
revolve around self-awareness and responsibility for human volitional acts. There is no
single methodology, but the holistic approach to the study of the person is an important
premise.
In educational contexts, humanists propose a comprehensive education to achieve
the total development of the person. The importance of students’ self-realization is
highlighted. The student is a unique, unrepeatable being, with personal growth needs,
who is not to be treated in a fragmentary way. The teacher is perceived as a guide and
facilitator of the student’s current trend. The teacher’s activities should be aimed at
strengthening learning and creativity (Delgado-Linares, 2014). Learning in this
paradigm is significant when it involves the person as a whole. While there is no single
methodology, there are several techniques to promote meaningful and experiential
learning and the self-growth of students (Aizpuru-Cruces, 2008).
All people are different, and each has developed their socialization process in a
different way and they have developed in different material conditions. Therefore, their
learning needs are also diverse. It is not possible to treat all students in the same way,
much less expect them to develop academically in a similar way.
The challenge, then, is in the capacity of the teacher and the educational system to
work according to the needs of the students.
References
Aizpuru-Cruces, M. G. (2008): La persona como eje fundamental del Paradigma Humanista.
Acta Universitaria, 18 (Especial), 33-40.
Delgado-Linares, I. (2014): Destrezas sociales. Madrid: Ediciones Paraninfo. Freire,
P. (2019): Pedagogía del oprimido. Mexico: Siglo XXI Editores.
Gramsci, A. (2019): La Alternativa Pedagógica. Ciudad de México: Editorial Fontamara.
Gutierrez-Vázquez, J. M. (2008): Cómo reconocemos a un buen maestro? Revista Mexicana de
Investigación Educativa, 13(39), 1299-1303.
Habermas, J. (2010): Teoria de la acción comunicativa. Madrid: Catedra.
Rogers, C. R. (1994): El proceso de convertirse en persona. Barcelona: Paidos.
BCES Conference Books, 2023, Volume 21 |
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Skinner, B. F. (1989): Recent issues in the analysis of behavior. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill Pub.
Co.
Corresponding Author:
Prof. Dr. Claudio-Rafael Vasquez-Martinez, University of Guadalajara,
Mexico
Recovering Education: Using the Experiences and Learning Acquired to Build New and
Better Education System