pedagogical
adjective
-ˈgō-
Did you know?
Pedagogical, Pedagogy, and Pedagogue
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, and pedagogue all come from the Greek paidagōgos, originally the word for an enslaved person who brought children to school. But while pedagogical and pedagogy 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 the pedant- 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 of pedagogical in a Sentence
Todd Spangler, Variety, 24 Mar. 2025
The funds from Hastings will support Bowdoin’s current and new faculty who want to explore the pedagogical and scholarship questions that are being generated by the AI revolution.
—Michael T. Nietzel, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025
Schools that rely on this model need to begin rethinking their pedagogical approach entirely.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 20 Mar. 2025
Most people do this at home, but Barnes’s stridently symmetrical arrangements—big artworks in the middle, smaller ones to either side, formal echoes bouncing around the room—were emphatically pedagogical.
—Susan Tallman, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pedagogical
Cite this Entry
“Pedagogical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedagogical. Accessed 4 Apr. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share