Entry Slip - Tact of Teaching

1) But obviously giving praise is not without danger. 

2) Indeed, the substance of pedagogical acting takes place at this level of temporal immediacy that does not permit a reflective stepping back from or out of the situation in order to consider the various alternatives and consequences of those possible alternatives in concrete everchanging situations. 

3) Tact is a form of practical knowledge that realizes itself (becomes real) in the very act of teaching. 

1) One of the examples provided in the text talked about the different interpretations of praising students. It really made me wonder how easily can be used in different directions. As future educators we need to reflect on not only the positive impact of our pedagogy, but also in the negative one. It affects the teacher and students as it involves sensitivity to all members. Analyzing what us as teachers may consider a reward for the student, may end up in a unpleasant situation.

2) Throughout the program we are taught that we need to be reflective. Although I strongly agree with the action of reflection, it is also true that we will not have in particular situations the time to actually reflect, because of the immediacy of the scenario. When we take action we will not always have taken into account all of the possibilities. A good tact is to reflect after the actions are made during the class, so that in case parents need any explanation, we can give them an actual justification of our decisions and actions.

3) The pedagogy that we as teachers are going to implement during our lectures does not come in a recipe, it will grow and evolve throughout the natural course of teaching. Accepting that the action of teaching itself can not be translated into a theory is adopting a way of practice. Knowledge itself is based mainly in a practical component.