To be considered a competent educator, there are almost 2000 strategies, concepts, and terms that you must know. However, since teachers wear so many hats, who has the time to learn them all? Don’t worry; we have you covered. In this series, we will discuss all the teaching and learning strategies, concepts, and terms that you need to know to be considered an effective educator. There are over 70 articles in this series, so pace yourself. We recommend reading one piece per weekday, which will allow you to complete the series in three to four months. We hope you enjoy it.

Click here to read all the articles in this series.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge Refers to what binds subject knowledge with pedagogy. Pedagogical content knowledge might be viewed as a profound understanding, interpretation, and adaptation of the curriculum, which may only be achieved by a profound knowledge of the subject, the curriculum, and the students. It refers to the way that the teachers organize the topics and choose the clearest analogies and metaphors to leave an impact on their students.

Pedagogical Documentation A written performance assessment based on the curriculum taught in the classroom. The assessment uses the student’s work to measure skill mastery and learning priorities.

Pedagogy The art, science, and practice of teaching. Pedagogy is a complex term, as it involves everything that an instructor does to facilitate the teaching and learning process.

Peer Pressure The pressure to imitate friends or another group of people.

Pegword Method A memorization technique which uses images to connect a list of facts to a familiar group of words or numbers.

Percentile A child’s score on a standardized test expressed as the percentage of students in a normal distribution who would have performed at or below the student on the test.

Percentile Rank A child’s rank on a standardized test as expressed in terms of the number of students out of 100 who performed at or below the student’s score.

Percentile Score A derived score which shows the percent of students in the standardized test’s normative group which would have fallen at or below a particular raw score.

Perception The ability to apply sensory information (sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell) to past experiences.

Perception The interpretation and understanding that an individual derives from stimuli.

Perceptual Blocks A type of creative block caused by individuals looking at things in traditional ways rather than opening their minds to imagining things in fresh and original ways. This type of creative block results from learning and habit.

Perceptual IQ Tests Intelligence tests that measure perceptual skills (such as spatial skills) rather than verbal skills.

Perceptual Unit of Analysis A measure used for analysis in reading instruction which uses the size of the visual stimuli, for example, a letter, syllable, word, sentence, or passage.

Perennialism Is the educational philosophy that the importance of certain works transcends time. Perennial works are those considered as important and applicable today as they were when they were written, and are often referred to as great books. Common examples include Melville’s Moby Dick, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Dickens’s Great Expectations, and Dante’s Inferno. Perennialism is sometimes referred to as “culturally conservative,” because it does not challenge gender stereotypes, incorporate multiculturalism, or expose and advocate technology, as would be expected of contemporary literature.

Perfectionism A student’s avoidance of risks or undertaking obsessive efforts to eliminate the possibility of making a mistake.

Performance Assessment Allows students to show their mastery of a specific skill. In most performance-test scenarios, students are required to perform a complex skill or procedure or create a product to demonstrate that they can apply the knowledge and skills they have learned. The instructor or examiner will typically observe this performance and make an evaluation based on their observations. Although these tests are time-consuming, for the most part, and can be difficult to grade because they are somewhat more subjective and certainly less standardized, there are ways around these issues.

Performance Contracts A form of student evaluation for the student and the teacher that helps to document a student’s personal performance and help to form an evaluation. A performance contract is sometimes also referred to as a study guide.

Performance Feedback Refers to the process of providing information to learners about their progress.

Performance Goals The objectives of students who are driven first and foremost by a desire to gain external recognition and to achieve high academic standards.

Perlocutionary Acts A means of communication without using words including crying, touching, smiling, laughing, and more.

Permissive Parenting Style Permissive parents, too, are highly responsive. The difference is that permissive parents have low demands. They’re very loving toward their children, but they impose few guidelines or boundaries. They rarely attempt to discipline or control their kids. The rules that do exist are likely to be inconsistent and often unenforced.

Persistence An individual’s willingness to maintain focus and engage in sustained efforts to complete a task for the time required to be successful.

Personal Analogy A problem-solving technique in which an individual is challenged to become part of the problem to view it from a new perspective and identify possible solutions.

Personal Dictionary A tool for vocabulary development in which students record new words taken from stories, LEAs, or journals, under the appropriate letter and then write a sentence using the word as well as draw a picture to reinforce the word’s meaning.

Personal Learning Network (PLN) Is a group of people who you connect with to increase your knowledge of a particular subject. We’re breaking down this definition into three parts, so you understand exactly what a personal learning network is and how to use it to your educational advantage.

Personal Meaning One of five aspects of a strong gifted program. The concept that students become more motivated and engaged in learning when they have the opportunity to choose their topic of study for a project and direct their learning and research.

Personality Approach One view of leadership that explains a leader as someone who possesses a variety of personality traits that make him or her attractive to others.

Personality Test An assessment designed to measure psychological makeup rather than intelligence. It assesses an individual’s affective characteristics – attitudinal, motivational or emotional.

Personality The patterns of thinking, emotion, and behavior that characterize one individual and make them different from any other.

Persuasion Approach One view of leadership that explains a leader as someone who can inspire others to work together towards a goal, through logical argument or commands.

Persuasive Writing A type of formal writing which emphasizes and reveals students’ positions on particular issues.

Pervasive Developmental Disorder A set of disorders that involves lags in the formation of foundational social and cognitive skills. A pervasive developmental disorder can make a student act as if they were younger than their true age.