paidagogia

Paidagogia, commonly rendered as pedagogy, denotes the art and science of education—the theory and practice of teaching and learning. It encompasses the methods, strategies, and conditions by which knowledge, skills, and dispositions are transmitted, and how learners are engaged, assessed, and supported.

The term comes from Greek paidagōgia, from pais “child” and agein “to lead.” In ancient Greece, a paidagogos was often a trusted slave who supervised the upbringing and moral education of boys. The broader concept in antiquity referred to the process of forming a citizen through instruction and discipline. Over time, paidagogia evolved into the modern study of teaching and learning as a discipline within education.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, pedagogy emerged as a formal field that shapes curricula, instructional methods, assessment, and teacher education. Today, pedagogy covers a range of theories about how people learn and how teaching can be organized and adapted to various settings and learners. It includes approaches such as student-centered learning, inclusive education, and digital pedagogy, as well as subject-specific pedagogies for disciplines like language, mathematics, and science. Research in pedagogy examines the influence of context, culture, and technology on teaching and how to tailor methods to diverse learners.

See also: paideia, pedagogy, educational theory, teacher education.