Socrates, Plato, Dewey, or Gates?: A Review of Pedagogy in Parks & Recreation Higher Education

Abstract

Socrates, Plato, Dewey, or Gates: who is the best teacher? Each man used a different method of instruction and all are known as outstanding teachers. Dialectic, Socratic, play, reflective, experiential, active, technological….with all of these various approaches to teaching how do junior faculty know what instructional methods work best for the students they teach? Which theories, activities, and assignments are being used in parks and recreation teaching? What makes teachers in parks and recreation education effective? This review of the past 16 issues of SCHOLE (1986–2001) synthesizes the answers to these questions.

Keywords:

• pedagogy
• teaching
• learning
• theory
• assignments
• leisure
• parks & recreation