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pedagogy

noun

ped·a·go·gyˈpe-də-ˌgō-jē How to pronounce pedagogy (audio)

also-ˌgä-

especially British

-ˌgä-gē

Synonyms ofpedagogy next

:the art, science, or profession of teaching

especially:the field of study that deals mainly with methods of teaching and learning in schools:educationsense 2

Founded in 1962, the Institute revolutionizedpedagogy in Native American art by emphasizing direct experimentation with a wide range of materials and the study of global art history.—

Alexander Brier Marr

Did you know?

Pedagogical,Pedagogy, andPedagogue

Pedagogical and its cognates present us with an excellent example of how different words can come from the same root, retain closely related meanings, and yet take on distinctive connotations.Pedagogical,pedagogy, andpedagogue all come from the Greekpaidagōgos, originally the word for an enslaved person who brought children to school. But whilepedagogical andpedagogy have meanings simply related to education, teaching, or teachers (with no implied judgment),pedagogue has taken on a negative tone, often referring to a dull or overly formal teacher. A similar transformation has taken place with many of thepedant- words in English.Pedant originally denoted simply "a tutor," but now tends to mean "one who makes a show of knowledge."Pedantic formerly meant "relating to teaching," but now is more commonly used to mean "unimaginative or dull."

Examples ofpedagogy in a Sentence

Some of the presentations, a few too many for comfort, lapsed into the familiar contortions of modernpedagogy.—

Alex Ross,New Yorker,14 & 21 July 2003

The idea thatpedagogy should be judged according to race is absurd on its face, but the fact that they saw their relationship with me and with the school itself in those terms should have given me greater pause than it did.—

Gerald Early,Lure and Loathing,1993

Since no textbooks existed, the professor refused to profess, knowing no more than his students, and the students read what they pleased and compared their results. Aspedagogy, nothing could be more triumphant.—

Henry Adams,The Education of Henry Adams,1907

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage.Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.Send us feedback.

In recent years, particularly after a 2020 research report and a 2022 investigative podcast brought this flawedpedagogy into the public eye, whole language has fallen out of fashion.—

Julia Fisher,The Atlantic, 17 Jan. 2026Susan Branje, the head of the department of education andpedagogy at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, found that favorite children might feel guilty or undeserving when the favoritism is so obvious.—

Hannah Sacks,PEOPLE, 8 Jan. 2026More often than not, schools don’t intervene effectively, sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes as a result of misguidedpedagogy, sometimes for fear of incurring instructional or legal costs.—

David Owen,New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025From teaching algorithmic bias to podcasting, there are many effective ways to engage students in thepedagogy of media literacy.—

Joshua Finnell,JSTOR Daily, 1 Oct. 2025See All Example Sentences forpedagogy

Word History

Etymology

earlier, "instruction, training," borrowed from New Latinpaedagōgia, borrowed from Greekpaidagōgía "escorting of a child to school, attendance, guidance, schooling, education, training," frompaidagōgós "attendant on a child, tutor" +-ia-yentry 2 — more atpedagogue

First Known Use

circa 1623, in the meaning definedabove

Time Traveler

The first known use ofpedagogy was circa 1623

See more words from the same year