Wisdom and Learned Knowledge: A Problem for University Didactics

Abstract

The article looks at a current problem for university didactics. Traditionally, teaching at the university level has been based on the transmission of content; that is, wisdom in which the professional and scientific training of the professor predominates. This situation has been endorsed since the 17th century with the pedagogy of Comenius. However, other positions have emerged during the course of history, such as that of Giroux, Zabalza, Álvarez and Litwin, who claim that professional teaching practice at the university level implies not only scientific knowledge of a specific field, but an understanding of didactics, which is manifest in the teaching method or learned knowledge. These seemingly opposite approaches, when addressed separately in the context of teaching practices, become a problem for university didactics. However, with the contributions of Chevallard and Klafki, this problem opens the way for a solution, insofar as the translation of knowledge is viewed as a way to combine the contents of knowledge with teaching methods in the teaching practices of university professors, thereby casting university didactics in a new light.