Digital smidgital I'm a pedagogue yo!

I do not know about you guys, but these last couple of weeks have been rough! Especially this one, where some of us had to face and engage with real children with real expectations, not to mention the fact that we had to know our stuff and perform in front of our peers (which to me was the much more daunting idea). Although it is exhausting learning to become a (hopefully awesome) teacher, it is also exhilarating and informative and awe-inspiring and humbling. What a responsibility we have! The idea of that enormous privilege has been slowly sinking in over the last few weeks and has me quite nervous.

It got me thinking about digital pedagogy and what it means to be a pedagogue. Can a teacher really be replaced by a computer? Sure he/she can, if said teacher is not invested in the learners, if he/she does not really want to be there, if he/she are able to totally separate their emotions and actions within a school environment and of course plain and simply when the teacher cannot teach the learners more than a computer can.  Should a teacher be replaced by a computer? That is the question to be asked. I do not have a lot of authority, but in my opinion the answer is a resounding no. 

As we have learned over the last weeks, there is so much more to teaching than simply standing in front of a classroom full of kids and pumping their brains full of what we/ the curriculum decide to be knowledge. We have a responsibility towards the learners in our classrooms to think about each child’s cultural capital and to not only encourage them to learn skills to equal the so called playing field, but also respect and protect what makes them unique and feel safe, to adapt and find new ways of engaging and supporting the learners. A computer cannot do this, neither can a plain old teacher, but a pedagogue, oh the pedagogue can.  A pedagogue is concerned with pedagogy and as Morris says: “Pedagogy has at its core timeliness, mindfulness, and improvisation. Pedagogy concerns itself with the instantaneous, momentary, vital exchange that takes place in order for learning to happen.”  

Just to make myself clear, I am in no way promoting teaching without the use of digital technology, as this is a useful tool and is part of being mindful of our environment and surely helps with improvisation, but in the end it cannot take the place of human interaction. So, go forth and be the best teacher you can be, learn and adapt constantly, be the pedagogue you want to see in the world.