What Do You Mean By “Authentic”? A Comparative Review of the Literature On Conceptions of Authenticity in Teaching

Abstract

“Authenticity in teaching” has been recognized as an important yet under-researched phenomenon. To gain greater insight into the meaning of authenticity in teaching in adult and higher education settings, the authors delved into some of the philosophical and educational literature on authenticity, giving particular attention, but not confining their review, to the work of Taylor, Heidegger, and Noddings. This study is one of “making sense of authenticity in teaching” in light of the conceptions of authenticity underlying the reviewed texts. Authenticity in teaching emerged as a multidimensional phenomenon, and the findings are presented in the form of multiple features associated with it. Inspired by Taylor's concept of horizons of significance and Palmer's notion of the subject-centered classroom, the authors further propose that one dimension of authenticity in teaching relates to educators' care for the subject matter and thus engaging students in genuine dialogue around ideas that matter.