The Epistemology of Pedagogical Tact : or: What Kind of Knowledge is Pedagogical Tact?

• Pedagogical tact belongs to the core aspects of pedagogical professionalism (Burghardt & Zirfas 2019, p.9). Originally defined as “a quick judgment and decision…answer[ing to the] requirements of the individual case” (Herbart 1803), pedagogical tact is of renewed interest in research on practices, materiality of education, embodiment and learning and in terms of questions of equality. It is described today as elusive, intangible or 'unverfügbar' (Burghardt & Zirfas 2018). Tact is said to 'show itself' performatively—'manifest as a teacher’s reserve exercised for the sake of the child’s independence' (Friesen & Osguthorpe 2018). The simultaneously active and passive character of pedagogical tact is particularly visible in terms of body’s own aporias—such as its simultaneously physical and lived dimensions, and its entwinement of the familiar and alien (Waldenfels 1994). It can be degenerated into ideology. The objective with pedagogical tact is to realize the best possible fit between action and reaction—i.e., between impulse and response, indecision and assertiveness, decision and irrevocability, distance and proximity. Oelkers (2007, p.127) describes the pedagogical agenda as follows: “[…] with respect to education, coincidence, arbitrariness and randomness must be excluded. Children are objects of concern (Oelkers 1991), and s/he who rejects this attitude of concern acts irresponsibly.” – Pedagogical tact is grounded in intuition as the original a-theoretical capacity of perceiving. Hereby, the acting of a pedagogue more closely ties to her/his state of mind than to a result of her/his thinking (Muth 1967, p.68). How, thus, to describe pedagogical tact as specialist knowledge? Referring to Herbart (1969a [1802]) three different answers are given: First, Herbart argues that tact inevitably enters spaces which theory has left empty, thus becoming the 'regent' of practice. Second, he occasionally uses 'tact' almost synonymously with the Kantian 'judgement'. Third, Herbart understands the concept as representing an indispensable link between theory and practice in pedagogy, i.e. as rapid assessment and decision directed to meeting the true demand of the individual case. In this paper these interpretations form a part of the decoding of pedagogical tact as a form of knowledge.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

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