Basic Concepts of General Didactics From the Pedagogical Triangle to the Didactic Triangle

Basic Concepts of General Didactics From the Pedagogical Triangle to the Didactic Triangle

Mohamed Khaldi
Copyright: © 2024 |Pages: 46
DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3693-1206-3.ch003
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Abstract

General didactics aims to set out certain principles to which all didactics obey. While didactics is found in all pedagogical knowledge, it plays an important role in professional training in the practice of teaching. Thanks to it, teachers acquire the necessary teachings to develop their practice. The teaching process, object of study, cannot be considered as an activity limited to the classroom. Therefore, teachers need to know the methods and forms of teaching organization, as well as the guidelines that govern and guide their process. Didactics includes two fields of study: research and pedagogical practices. Through this chapter, the authors define the different basic concepts concerning general didactics, namely the school situation; the three poles of the classical triangle: knowledge, the learner and the teacher; the different interactions between the three poles of the classical triangle: at the pedagogical level (pedagogical triangle: teaching, learning, and training) and at the didactic level (didactic triangle: didactic transposition, learning strategies, and didactic contract).
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The School Situation

According to Herbert, the school situation can be defined as “One adult is in regular contact with a group of children whose presence is mandatory” (Herbert, 1964). To study this definition, we can divide it into five elements (Postic, 2001).

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    The first element mentioned is “an adult” or the teacher. In fact, it is not the teacher who can be studied but rather his teaching, that is, all the strategies (including teaching tools) that he will use to teach the content.

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    The second element mentioned is the “regular contact” between the teacher and the learners. This element cannot be modified since it is part of the constraints of the mandate given to the teacher.

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    In the third element, Herbert specifies that the teacher addresses a “group”. It is obviously not a question of excluding that an educational activity can take place through contact with only one person. However, the educational situation heard here is a “classroom” situation where the teacher has to deal with a group whose size and composition is governed by rules that are beyond his direct control.

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    The fourth element is “children” in this case children, adolescents or adults depending on the target audience to whom the teacher is addressing.

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    The fifth element is the “mandatory presence” of learners which is also a constraint that must be dealt with. At the post-secondary level, the obligation is not legal, but if the learner wishes to graduate, he must acquire the necessary knowledge and therefore take the courses and activities that will enable him to do so.

This involves a process that begins as soon as the learners and the teacher enter the classroom. This process has the following characteristics:

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    Multidimensionality refers to the number of events and tasks that take place in a class.

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    Simultaneity refers to the fact that several of these events occur at the same time.

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    Immediacy refers to the rapid pace at which these events unfold.

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    Unpredictability refers to the unexpectedness of these events.

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    Visibility underlines the public dimension, more specifically of the teacher's gesture.

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    Historicity expresses the impact of this gesture on future events in the classroom.

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