Pedagogics

Pedagogics is the systematic, scientific study of the educational process. Unlike pedagogy, which retains an emphasis on the humanistic disciplines within the teaching profession, pedagogics almost always refers to the study of teaching and education from the perspective of empirical science. The term is not frequently used in the United States, but it is commonly found in South Africa, Germany, and a few other European countries. Whereas pedagogy implies the practice of teaching, texts on pedagogics stress the analysis of educational phenomena with the goal of understanding education from the perspective of an objective observer.

Beginning in the early 20th century, researchers who preferred pedagogics to pedagogy (or education) sought to establish pedagogics as a science distinct from all other fields. In this respect, pedagogics developed ...