Those supporting new pedagogy regard the learning process as superior to learning outcomes, discovery learning more important than guided instruction, and personal experience more valuable than expert knowledge. Those in favour of traditional pedagogy disagree. For them, in-depth knowledge and mastery can only be acquired through hard work, intrinsic motivation and full responsibility for one’s learning.
One might say that progressive and traditional views to education are equally valid. Tom Sherrington, for example, explains it through the metaphor of a progressive-traditional pedagogy tree: to receive good education, one needs the roots of learning to be well nourished (progressive), a strong framework to be built (traditional) and rich inputs to be provided (progressive and traditional together).
We couldn’t agree more! In fact, we intend to examine the question of progressive and traditional approaches to learning and teaching throughout the project period. We also have an ambitious plan to present our own vision in an e-book called Top Tips for Modern Teachers. We can’t wait publishing the book by August 2019!