Pearls of Classroom Wisdom: Book Offers Insight for New and Experienced Teachers

For those outside of the educational world, the word “pedagogy” can elicit some confusion. Is it a high-tech exercise bike, a special ethnic food, a trendy new hairstyle?

It’s none of those options. Instead, pedagogy is the use of methods and practices of teaching in relation to academic subjects and theories. And for Cedarville University’s School of Education, advancing the quality and depth of its pedagogy is always a top priority — enough, in fact, to inspire a new book.  

This year, the school of education will release its first-ever pedagogy quote book. The book will feature insight about learning, instruction, and educational philosophy from Cedarville faculty and staff.

Dr. Kevin Jones came up with the idea as he transitioned to his new role as dean in 2020.

“Cedarville is a teaching college, and we want to highlight the excellent pedagogy of our professors here,” said Dr. Kevin Jones, dean of the school of education and assistant professor of education. “I thought it would be a unique opportunity to hear from all of our professors about what encourages them and compile those quotes and verses to share with others.” 

Denise Smith, program assistant to the school of education, worked alongside Jones to move the idea from vision to product. Throughout the collection process, she and Jones received nearly 150 quotes and verses from contributing faculty and staff. They look forward to the book’s potential as a means of relationship building.

“We’d like to use it as a means of outreach to partnering schools who host our student teachers, for students who want to hear from different professors they’ve come in contact with during their time here, as a gift for prospective students and alumni and to share the vision of the school of education,” Smith noted.

The book will be available in the Cedarville University bookstore in the coming months.

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,550 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio, recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including the Bachelor of Arts in Middle Childhood Education program, strong graduation, and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and high student engagement ranking. For more information about the University, visit cedarville.edu.