Notes on:
Lahtinen, A-M. (2008) University Teachers’ Views
on the Distressing Elements of Pedagogical
Interaction. Scandinavian Journal of
Educational Research Vol. 52, No. 5,
October 2008, pp. 481–493
Dave Harris
Negative emotions arose from dealing with 'the
emotional load placed on them by students, making
pedagogical decisions under uncertain conditions
and facing conflict in expectations and beliefs
concerning the teaching - learning process'
(481). University teachers need to be better
informed about complexity.
Problems include increasing numbers of
heterogeneous students and lack of preparation for
the for for teaching role. The problem is
that teaching is always a matter of power and
authority, 'interaction is never symmetrical', but
the relations can be as democratic as possible
(482). Learning is also complex,
'simultaneously a cognitive, emotional and
psychodynamic' process' with 'a societal
dimension'. No forward planning can deal
with the complexity and detail. Teachers
thinking is 'largely intuitive, instinctive,
creative, improvised, spontaneous and impulsive in
nature'. There are connections with the
external world. Judgments and perceptions
are both intuitive and derive from past
experience. Teaching has a symbolic meaning for
students [says Brookfield]. There have to be
mutually accepted boundaries between students and
teachers.
This study is a phenomenological one examining
potential sources of distress in teachers
experience, and aiming at 'the structural
understanding of individual, typical and universal
features' (483). Teachers were asked to
specify typical interactions, then to describe
positive and negative kinds of interaction and
analyze their feelings. These descriptions
were then analyzed, and findings were linked to
other studies.
Two main categories of experience were noted:(1)
those related to students emotional states and
feelings; (2) 'experiences in which negative
feelings are related to teachers themselves, their
own thoughts and actions' (485). Negative
feelings were invoked when students expressed
resentment, 'directly and in a hostile and
aggressive way', reflecting disappointment about
assessment, grading or learning problems.
Sometimes they blamed teacher incompetence and
this produced 'an "existential" threat to
teachers' professional identity'. When first
meeting with students, sometimes they displayed
'suspicion and reserve' (486). Student
passivity and their '"sounding out" attitude'
could produce discomfort especially if teachers
saw their responsibility as bringing about active
participation. Things could change with
time, but generally managing interpersonal
relations 'and atmosphere' is a demanding task
'and includes a lot of emotional load'.
Collaborative learning also set challenges because
teachers feel more responsible for creating the
atmosphere and controlling interaction: they also
have to relate to students emotional
reactions. This can be strenuous.
Overall 'emotionality is embedded in very ordinary
teaching situations in which students express
their feelings', and 'teaching small groups easily
evokes emotional load in teachers'.
Misreading a situation can produce negative
feelings, especially when planning is done 'on the
basis of incorrect beliefs about students'
conception of learning and their expectations
about the teacher's role' (487). Becoming
aware of different expectations can be
frustrating, especially if changes cannot be
made. Questions that students ask 'may be
regarded as threatening', especially if teachers
are not particularly confident about their content
knowledge, while being expected to be an
expert. Since content knowledge is always
incomplete, it requires 'a strong professional
identity...to face students' unrealistic
expectations of expertise'. Supervising doctoral
studies can be full of uncertainty, because even
experienced students cannot always say what sort
of support and guidance they require. Their
own increasing expertise is also a challenge,
although the formal position of the supervisor
needs to be maintained. At all levels,
'Making pedagogical decisions without sufficient
information is typical to teaching. There is
always a risk of misreading the cues' (488).
Students can dump anger on to the teacher as a
form of 'projective identification' (489) or
transference - 'an unconscious displacement of
thoughts, feelings and ideas from a previous
significant relationship on to a current
relationship'. This can be implied in
developing a relationship between teachers and
students. Developing trust is a 'fragile'
process, but teachers are often expected to
actively involve students in building this
relationship.
Teaching is always uncertain and interactions
unpredictable. Teaching interactions can
produce job satisfaction, but teachers also 'used
words like frustration, discouragement and
exasperation when talking about this interaction'
[says another study] (490). Uncertainty
seems to be the problem. However, any
'significant learning causes an ambivalent mix of
feelings and emotions, in which anger and
confusion are as prominent as pleasure and
clarity'. Challenging existing beliefs can
cause anxiety, and this can be 'channeled back' to
teachers. Teachers are often important 'in
the mental life of their students' Some students,
even adult ones, expect teachers to be full
experts, with 'an "encyclopaedic mind" consisting
of facts and information'. There can be an
inherent conflict 'between playing the role of
learning facilitator and the role of learning
evaluator'[we do have to pretend to be
encyclopedic experts when assessing people].
Personal inadequacy can lead to a disturbance and
embarrassment. Satisfactory social
interaction requires people being able to
competently play roles, and they can become
'distressed and uncomfortable when they find
themselves unable to do so' (491). However,
awareness of these emotional factors 'may decrease
teachers' tendency to blame themselves'.
There needs to be more attention on the stances
that should be taken towards uncertainty, and more
focus on the emotional aspects of the teacher's
work. University knowledge is 'too often too
rational', and the whole business of teaching is
usually taken to be wholly rational.
Pedagogical theories are useful, but so is the
development of the teachers identity and
wellbeing: these require 'time for reflection and
for the sharing of the personal experiences of
teaching'.
back to education
studies page
|
|