Pedagogical Tact

This insightful collection explores the art of pedagogical tact, the skilful and sensitive way educators respond to students in different situations. It provides a clear introduction to the balance needed between teaching theory and real-world practice, showing how educators adapt their approach in various contexts. Featuring contributions from leading scholars in the USA, Sweden, France, Germany and Switzerland, this is the first English-language volume focusing solely on pedagogical tact since Max van Manen’s The Tact of Teaching (1991) and Pedagogical Tact (2015). A valuable resource for educators and researchers alike. Highly recommended. Evi Agostini, Associate Professor at the Department of Teacher Education and the Department of Education at the University of Vienna
Pedagogical tact is a key construct for educational practice. It addresses the practitioner’s translation of his or her subjective theory into concrete practice in complex situations. In the German pedagogical tradition, tact has been addressed the context of very different paradigms. As this volume shows, these include human science pedagogy, phenomenology, empirical research, critical theory, philosophy, ethics, and more. This multiplicity presents a particular challenge: On the one hand, these different perspectives complement each other, but on the other, they are often considered as mutually exclusive. By contrast, good teachers combine various approaches in their practice, mostly intuitively. By investigating tact from multiple perspectives, this volume contributes to their integration in the theoretical conceptualization of tact. Jean-Luc Patry. O.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Educational Science, Paris Lodron University Salzburg