Pedagogy Resources

[W.T.Heinz]

I am curious as to what the instructors go to resources are for their pedagogy? I've seen references to using a modern pedagogy but I'd like to know the sources if I could.

[Jake Norwood]

If you mean modern HEMA instructors, most are building their own pedagogy--even the ones basing their pedagogy on historical models are probably filling in more than not when it comes to the question of how to teach this stuff.

Jake

[W.T.Heinz]

Thanks Jake.

What I was referring to was this quote:
For the last nine years, this group has been a center of historical European martial arts innovation, first as the premier study group and 'senior free scholar academy' in the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts, and more recently as the independent school True Edge Academy. Since breaking with the ARMA, True Edge Academy has dedicated itself to developing a new curriculum that applies modern techniques of organization and pedagogy to the diverse teachings from across Medieval and Renaissance Europe, integrating them into a unified and comprehensive combative system.

The bold is mine, obviously.

What I am wondering is if they have specific models derived from modern resources, or if it is just a general statement regarding the nature of organization and pedagogy being delivered in a modern sense such as you'd find in an academic setting rather than an historical one. If particular models are being used from specific resources I'd like to know what they are.

Or perhaps a list of suggested reading for personal edification.

[Michael Chidester]

Books on martial arts instruction and physical training, primarily. Stew has allegedly been doing research for his instructor certification program as well.

[W.T.Heinz]

Which books?

[W.T.Heinz]

hmm. only crickets chirping here.

[Michael Chidester]

At the moment I've read more about the "organization" side of it than the "pedagogy" side. (Our curriculum is, obviously, a work in progress.) Let's see, I started close to home with Christian Tobler's Fighting with the German Longsword and Brian Price's Teaching and Interpreting Historical Swordsmanship. Neither of these was really what I was looking for. At this point I was also considering what constituted the most basic level of swordsmanship, so I hit up William Gaugler's The Science of Fencing (swordsmanship doesn't get more basic than sabre fencing). I also read Nick Evangelists's The Inner Game of Fencing to get a better feel for why things are taught the way they are in fencing--great book, by the way. Then I began looking at AMA concepts, starting with Lawrence Kain's Martial Arts Instruction, which ad some really good parts and some really boring and not useful parts. I also read a few other books on both instruction and general martial arts school management, but Eli has those right now so I can't look up author and title. Other books that have influenced me are Josh Waitzkin's The Art of Learning and my trusty FM 21-20 (the Army Physical Fitness Manual). Also twelve credit hours of logic at BYU and the fact that I'm a compulsive organizer. I'd like to study more pedagogy specifically to improve the quality of my instruction, but to date most of our research has been in the best ways to structure lesson plans and curricula. (I also don't know how much Stew has adopted beyond my basic curriculum and ranking structures--he's been doing this longer than me and is set in his ways ).

However, it's true that that statement was partly just to indicate that we're not teaching based on any specific manual. Our curriculum isn't structured after Liechtenauer's 17 Haupstucke, Fiore's various Masters of the Longsword, or... whatever Meyer has. It's based on a consideration of the best way to get awkward 18-year-olds moving like fighters and the best way to make the techniques make sense to modern minds.

[W.T.Heinz]

Thank you for the response.