Complex Pedagogy and the Teaching Identity

Complex pedagogy is even more complex than what I was thinking until I began reading some articles on different philosophies and schools of thought on pedagogy and the teaching identity. One of the difficult topics that comes up with complex pedagogy is the type of teaching identity that each individual will create when they step into the classroom.

When reading the articles, there is a large emphasis on the connection and barriers that teachers need to break down. There’s a need to be open but not too open so that students don’t walk all over you – being flexible but not too flexible so that students turn in their work eventually. There’s this really complicated mix of different aspects of personality and professionalism that have to be mixed in order to be considered a professor that can successfully teach and create an atmosphere for learning. It seems like there’s this massive trial-and-error aspect of teaching that would normally not be covered by professors.

The personal aspect of teaching is a different side of teaching that I think most educators don’t consider – especially at the university level where professors are expected to create professionals as quickly as possible versus making sure that students are effectively learning. This has now quickly become an aspect of teaching that is largely intimidating. I would be curious to learn how much time a standard professor takes to create the basis for their teaching identity.