pedagogical
adjective
-ˈgō-
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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
Jenny Noyce, JSTOR Daily, 28 June 2024
Unschooling encompasses a wide range of pedagogical philosophies.
—Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 24 June 2024
But one of his main pedagogical devices is still the field trip.
—Joseph Bernstein Robert Petkoff Krish Seenivasan Devin Murphy, New York Times, 3 June 2024
Owing to his pedagogical experience, his knack for language, and his background in Asia, he was invited to teach Chinese at Cambridge and appointed to a lectureship in 1972.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for pedagogical 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pedagogical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Pedagogical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedagogical. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
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