didaktische

Didaktische is the German adjective form of didaktisch and is used to describe aspects related to didactics in education. Didactics, in this sense, refers to the theory and practice of teaching—how content is selected, organized, and communicated to learners, and how learning is designed and assessed. In German-speaking educational discourse, didaktik is the discipline that studies what to teach (content and goals), why it should be taught (rationale and relevance), and how it should be taught (methods, materials, and organization).

Historically, didaktik has roots in the 19th century with the Herbartian tradition, which emphasized a structured pedagogy: the planned sequence of steps, alignment of content with learners’ readiness, and deliberate practice. A central idea is the didactic triangle, consisting of the pupil, the teacher, and the subject matter, within a curriculum framework.

Practically, didaktische planning involves selecting and sequencing content, choosing teaching methods and materials, structuring lessons, and planning assessment and feedback. It distinguishes the aims (learning goals) from the methods (how to teach) and from the content (what to learn). Modern didaktische approaches include subject-specific didactics (e.g., mathematical didactics, language didactics) and broader paradigms such as cognitive, constructivist, or situative didactics, which guide instructional design.

In education policy and teacher training, didaktische considerations help balance rigor with accessibility, cognitive load, and student diversity, with the aim of achieving understanding, transfer, and long-term competence. See also Didaktik, Unterricht, Lehrplan, Unterrichtsmethodik.