Genres of Teaching

As learning is the purpose of teaching, learning theory ought to provide a strong theoretical basis for pedagogical practice. But learning theorists do not speak with one voice, and education has struggled for generations with multiple learning theories developed across the various branches of psychology. Looking back at this history reveals a hidden imperative to characterize learning as a unified construct – a drive that has blinded us to the simplest and most obvious solution to the problem of multiple learning theories. That solution is to recruit separate theorizations of learning to the long-established educational goals of teaching skills, teaching concepts, and teaching cultural practices. Employing this strategy, Genres of Teaching delivers a stable and cumulative knowledge base for teaching.