Pedagogic Frailty Research Articles

Poems and pedagogic frailty: uncovering the affective within teacher development through collective biography

To explore the affective domains embedded in academic development and teacher practice, a team of academic developers was invited to consider a poem and how it reflects the emotions and feelings underpinning experiences as teachers within Higher Education. We used a method of arts-informed, collective biography to evaluate a poem to draw upon and share memories to interrogate lived experiences. Our research is framed using the lens of pedagogic frailty model to see how affective and discursive encounters are produced and impact us. We contend that collective arts-based and biographical approaches can provide alternative ways for ourselves and teachers to examine their own pedagogic frailty.

The Ecological Root Metaphor for Higher Education: Searching for Evidence of Conceptual Emergence within University Education Strategies

Recent research has suggested that Higher Education would benefit from the adoption of institutional models that relinquish ties to industrial thinking and associated metaphors. This long-established, market-led managerial perspective has been colonised by neoliberal values that work against education. A move towards models that have greater resonance with ecological thinking is considered to better align the institutional purpose with tackling the wicked problems of the current century and promoting social justice. This paper considers the role of root metaphors in promoting and maintaining an ecological perspective and asks if there is any evidence for the emergence of ecological thinking in institutional education strategies that might support the development of the imagined future of the ecological university. Qualitative document analysis suggests that the move towards the adoption of the ecological root metaphor will require a punctuated change that is not compatible with the typical incremental nature of change within universities. The incremental adoption of ecological terminology may trigger an increase in pedagogic frailty if the root metaphor remains linked to the neoliberal ideology of consumerism. The construction of strategy documents needs to consider how key concepts are related to each other and how they can portray a coherent image of the institution’s ambitions.

Exploring Pedagogic Frailty and Resilience: Case Studies of Academic Narrative

Exploring Pedagogic Frailty and Resilience: Case Studies of Academic Narrative

Uncovering and comparing academics’ views of teaching using the pedagogic frailty model as a tool: a case study in science education

ABSTRACT Background One approach to enhancing the pedagogy of science education is to employ academics who are not only science-trained but also engaged in education research. As some academics begin their Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research careers with a pure science background, shifting in disciplinary perspectives can be a source of professional tension. The pedagogic frailty model provides a framework that helps us to integrate institutional efforts to enhance teaching improvements by maintaining a simultaneous focus on critical areas that are thought to impede academic development. Purpose This paper draws attention to the importance of disciplinary crossover by uncovering and comparing academics’ teaching perspectives, views and beliefs from three disciplines: natural science (chemistry), social science (education) and science education. Method Through a case study design using the pedagogic frailty model and concept map-mediated interviews as a tool, three academics engaged in a non-linear discourse in which their conceptions could be visualised and analysed. Findings and Discussion Analysis of the case study interviews indicated that the academics’ conceptions of teaching were highly individualised. The discourse surrounding the curriculum, and the embeddedness of and connection between pedagogy and discipline, were both subject-sensitive and influenced by professional backgrounds and research areas. On the other hand, because they operated under the same institutional values and regulations, we found a considerable overlap in terms of how the academics perceived the tensions between research and teaching and academic leadership. By comparing three academics who were at a different stage in the journey from disciplinary experts (chemistry) to teaching expert (education), we were able to uncover and understand more about the ways that the teaching environment impacted upon their practices. The science educator shared aspects of the other two perspectives, which suggests that his profile was a transitory state in comparison with the chemist and the educationist. Conclusion The findings provide a glimpse of the distinctive nature of the values that underpin teaching and offer insights that can be used to promote dialogue about quality enhancement in science education.

Scaffolding a collaborative process through concept mapping: a case study on faculty development

PurposeConcept maps have been described as a valuable tool for exploring curriculum knowledge. However, less attention has been given to the use of them to visualise contested and tacit knowledge, i.e. the values and perceptions of teachers that underpin their practice. This paper aims to explore the use of concept mapping to uncover academics’ views and help them articulate their perspectives within the framework provided by the concepts of pedagogic frailty and resilience in a collaborative environment.Design/methodology/approachParticipants were a group of five colleagues within a Biochemical Science Department, working on the development of a new undergraduate curriculum. A qualitative single-case study was conducted to get some insights on how concept mapping might scaffold each step of the collaborative process. They answered the online questionnaire; their answers were “translated” into an initial expert-constructed concept map, which was offered as a starting point to articulate their views during a group session, resulting in a consensus map.FindingsEngaging with the questionnaire was useful for providing the participants with an example of an “excellent” map, sensitising them to the core concepts and the possible links between them, without imposing a high level of cognitive load. This fostered dialogue of complex ideas, introducing the potential benefits of consensus maps in team-based projects.Originality/valueAn online questionnaire may facilitate the application of the pedagogic frailty model for academic development by scaling up the mapping process. The map-mediated facilitation of dialogue within teams of academics may facilitate faculty development by making explicit the underpinning values held by team members.

The Salutogenic Management of Pedagogic Frailty: A Case of Educational Theory Development Using Concept Mapping

This paper explores the development of educational theory (pedagogic frailty) that has emerged through the application of concept maps to understand teachers’ conceptions of their roles within the complex higher education environment. Within this conceptual paper, pedagogic frailty is reinterpreted using the lens offered by the concept of salutogenesis to place the model in a more positive frame that can offer greater utility for university managers. This development parallels changes in the consideration of mental health literacy (MHL) across university campuses and avoids misapplication of a deficit model to the professional enhancement of teaching quality. For a detailed explication of this wider perspective of pedagogic health literacy (PHL), the connections with related and supporting concepts need to be explained. These include ‘assets’, ‘wellness’ and a ‘sense of coherence’. Links between these concepts are introduced here. This reframing of the model has used concept mapping to explore the relationship between two complex ideas—pedagogic frailty and salutogenesis. It emphasizes pedagogic health as a continuum operating between frailty and resilience. Brief implications for academic development are included.

Affect and ipsative approaches as a counter to pedagogic frailty: the guardian of traditional models of student success

ABSTRACTIn this article, I consider how the neoliberal discourses surrounding higher education have resulted in an increasingly risk-averse culture of learning and teaching. Students are frequently reluctant to engage with troublesome or challenging knowledge and academics are less likely to push learners into contested spaces or deviate from accepted pedagogical practices for fear of upsetting them. The consequence of this situation is that we potentially have a generation of graduates who lack the resilience to cope in the graduate market. Drawing on the notion of pedagogic frailty, consideration is given to how models of success, that are associated with high stakes, single-point assessment, might limit the development of positive affect in learners. I argue instead for a reconsideration of notions of success building on the principles of ipsative assessment as a means of supporting the development of affective attributes, such as resilience, optimism and hope, in an effort to ensure graduates are equipped for an uncertain future.

Visualising the pedagogic frailty model as a frame for the scholarship of teaching and learning

Purpose The purpose of this study is to offer exploration of pedagogic frailty as a framework to support professional development of university teachers in a personalised and discipline-sensitive way. Design/methodology/approach The method involves participants constructing a concept map for each dimension of the model. These maps must have high explanatory power to act as a frame for developing a personal narrative to support reflection on practice. This reflection starts from the academic’s current knowledge structure and provides a bespoke, individualised focus for further learning. Findings This conceptual paper is informed by case studies of academics’ interactions with the frailty model that have helped to refine it as a faculty development tool. This is clarified by providing explicit requirements of an “excellent” map, and places the reflective process within a learning theory that is aligned with the values that underpin the model. Originality value The type of rhizomatic learning that is supported by the model, in which there are no imposed learning outcomes or strictly delineated pathways to success, is particularly suited to support the professional development of more senior academics. This represents an innovative approach to faculty development.

Russian university teachers’ ideas about pedagogic frailty

The paper focusses on the problem of pedagogic frailty in Higher Education in Russia. The main dimensions of pedagogic frailty are described from the point of view of Russian teachers and researchers. Concept maps were used to reveal the teachers’ ideas about the challenges presented by ‘pedagogic frailty’. The content analysis of their concept maps revealed interviewees’ perceptions of the possible options that can be used to generate solutions to the problems created by pedagogic frailty. The detailed analysis of original solutions and examples observed in the interviewees’ concept maps is presented. Based on the results of the research, guidelines about solutions to the problem created by pedagogical frailty are proposed.

Editorial: Pedagogic frailty and concept mapping

The model of pedagogic frailty adds cohesion to consideration of the factors that impinge upon teaching at university and which may inhibit innovation. The model was developed through the examination of expert knowledge structures using concept maps. In this editorial, we summarise the pedagogic frailty model and explain its relationship to the concept mapping tool. We emphasise the need to use excellent concept maps (succinct maps with high explanatory power) for the development of theory and the exploration of the ‘yet-to-be-known’. We introduce the papers in this special issue that each consider pedagogic frailty and/or concept mapping from different perspectives. This illustrates the utility of the frailty model and how it connects to a variety of well-established bodies of research that influence activities within universities at all levels.

An exploration into pedagogic frailty: Transitioning from face-to-face to online

Pedagogic frailty and concept mapping can simultaneously encourage personal and organisational change by supporting critical reflection and resilience. These ideas are nascent within higher education institutions and currently, at the University of Surrey, are only developed through face-to-face sessions. This revealed the need for a scalable intervention which engages academics with the discourse on introspective and professional development practices. In response, we have created the design for a blended programme of online foundation for concept mapping leading to face-to-face workshops to explore the pedagogic frailty model. This paper will discuss some significant challenges arising from transitioning self-reflective practices from face-to-face to online spaces. In the process, we will consider ways in which learning design can take the learner context into account.

Using concept mapping for faculty development in the context of pedagogic frailty

The quality of teaching does not depend exclusively on the knowledge and experience of teachers, but also on the contextual variables that go along with the teaching (attitude, objectives, students, resources, etc.) or dimensions of pedagogic frailty (regulative and instructional discourse, pedagogy and discipline, research teaching nexus and locus of control. Identifying these variables may help to enhance teaching. A procedure for the capture, representation and transfer of knowledge between peers regarding active didactic methodologies supported by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) was applied in a case study research. The data were represented by concept maps. The aim was to identify variables that affect Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), the use of technology in teaching and pedagogic frailty, through the analysis of the interrelations among the concept maps.The analysis of the maps shows the implementation of many innovations with ICT (project-based learning, service-learning, collaborative learning), their positive aspects and the difficulties in carrying them out. The teachers involved pointed out some factors that contribute to the development of pedagogic frailty, including the number of students in each class, the organization of teaching, the motivation, among others, and as conditions for a greater progress in innovative educational experiments using ICT.

Pedagogic frailty: A concept analysis

This paper adopts the approach of a map-enhanced concept analysis of pedagogic frailty with the intention of increasing clarity of purpose of the model and to promote more explicit discussion on how the term could be used positively within the educational research literature. Examples that are given here show that commonly used expressions such as ‘teaching excellence’ and ‘research-led teaching’ contain so much variation in meaning as to be misleading in their use. The maps offered show different perspectives in aspects of pedagogic frailty, such as those that may be perceived by an external examiner to a programme. The recurrence of frailty at varying levels of resolution and at different times within an evolving Higher Education context means that management of frailty and resilience should be embedded as a constant, dynamic activity within an institution, rather than a single-shot intervention.

Do no harm: Risk aversion versus risk management in the context of pedagogic frailty

Innovation in teaching ensures that education remains fit for purpose in a changing world. The model of pedagogic frailty proposes that educators may perceive innovation as risky, which may inhibit innovation, and thus reduce opportunities to update learning experiences. Within psychology, psychological literacy (the skills, knowledge and attributes acquired as outcomes of studying psychology) is becoming increasingly central to the curriculum. Educators are teaching more applied psychology, which requires new pedagogic approaches and are adopting and modelling core professional values espoused as components of psychological literacy, including evidence-based practice, ethics, and professional competence. We argue that psychology educators (and those from other disciplines) may assess the risk of innovation through the lenses of these professional values. The decision to maintain ‘safe’ practices may reflect a risk management approach, rather than frailty. We propose a model whereby frailty may depend on social context and risk in different educational circumstances. The professional values associated with psychological literacy and similar integrative disciplinary constructs, which at first seem to hinder innovation, may promote innovation which is creative and safe, and will facilitate the development of a rigorous evidence base to inform future practice.

Mapping the emotional journey of teaching

This paper will explore the use of Novakian concept mapping as a means of visualising and tracing the range of emotions inherent within any teaching experience. It will focus in particular on its use within higher education, where the presence of emotion has traditionally been disregarded or seemingly suppressed. The example of undergraduate teaching of the law degree will be used as an area where the role of emotion is particularly under-theorised. This paper will assess the effectiveness of concept mapping as a tool to enable academics to explicitly acknowledge, and reflect upon, the existence of emotion, both in terms of their individual teaching experiences, their collective teaching journey through a course or qualification and their students’ learning journey. It will also consider how use of this technique at a collective level could identify areas of pedagogic frailty, which may arise due to the misinterpreting, mishandling or suppression of emotion. The various opportunities and challenges arising from this application of concept mapping techniques will be discussed, drawing on a small, empirical pilot study, and leading to the conclusion that it has a useful and significant role to play within an emerging field of enquiry.

A capabilities approach to higher education: geocapabilities and implications for geography curricula

A geographical education offers more than skills, subject knowledge and generic attributes. It also develops a set of discipline-specific capabilities that contribute to a graduate’s future learning and experience, granting them special ways of thinking for lifelong development and for contributing to the welfare of themselves, their community and their world. This paper considers the broader purposes and values of disciplinary teaching in contributing to individual human development. Set in the context of recent debates concerning the role of the university and the neo-liberalisation of higher education this paper explores approaches to developing the geography curriculum in ways that re-assert the educational value of geographical thinking for students. Using international examples of teaching and learning practice in geography, we recognise five geocapabilities: use of the geographical imagination; ethical subject-hood with respect to the impacts of geographical processes; integrative thinking about society–environment relationships; spatial thinking; and the structured exploration of places. A capabilities approach offers a productive and resilient response to the threats of pedagogic frailty and increasingly generic learning in higher education. Finally, a framework to stimulate dialogue about curriculum development and the role of geocapabilities in the higher education curriculum is suggested.

Developing higher-order thinking skills with concept mapping: A case of pedagogic frailty

Concept maps have been proposed as a tool that can help develop and exercise higher-order thinking skills, including critical thinking, reflective thinking, synthesis, analysis, among others. In this paper, we review how the different aspects of constructing a concept map can help develop and exercise these skills, and discuss why most students never reach the level of concept mapping skills required to exercises their higher-order thinking skills, in what we propose is a case of pedagogic frailty involving the ‘Pedagogy and Discipline’ and ‘Locus of Control’ dimensions.

Tracing pedagogic frailty in arts and humanities education: An autoethnographic perspective

This paper offers an approach to support the development of reflective teaching practice among university academics that can be used to promote dialogue about quality enhancement and the student experience. Pedagogic frailty has been proposed as a unifying concept that may help to integrate institutional efforts to enhance teaching within universities by helping to maintain a simultaneous focus on key areas that are thought to impede development of pedagogy. These areas and the links that have been proposed to connect them are interrogated here through the dialogic analysis of a framed autoethnographic narrative produced by a community ‘insider’ who has considerable experience of teaching within the arts and humanities. This person-centred methodology acknowledges the subjective nature of teaching and gives voice to important stories that otherwise might not be heard formally, and allows an academic to rehearse this voice individually before comparing it with others in the institution.

Teaching Sensitive Issues: Psychological literacy as an antidote to pedagogic frailty

Many topics within the psychology curriculum can be described as ‘sensitive’, with potential for students to experience distress and discomfort. Given the pressure experienced by academics in Higher Education, the potential for student distress or complaints might lead lecturers to adopt a risk–averse approach to teaching, which is well represented by the concept of Pedagogic Frailty (Kinchin et al., 2016). Through interviews with nine psychology lecturers, we uncover thecommon concerns that arise when teaching sensitive topics, and the strategies employed to overcome these concerns. We also suggest that where teaching is strongly influenced by the values underpinning Psychological Literacy, those teaching sensitive topics may be less vulnerable to the characteristics of Pedagogic Frailty, as the risks associated with the teaching of sensitive topics are offset by the perceived importance of exposing students to sensitive topics. The implica ions for theteaching of psychology are discussed.

Mapping pedagogic frailty in geography education: a framed autoethnographic case study

Pedagogic frailty has been proposed as a unifying concept that may help to integrate institutional efforts to enhance teaching within universities by helping to maintain a simultaneous focus on key areas that are thought to impede the development of pedagogy. These areas and the links that have been proposed to connect them are interrogated here through the analysis of an autoethnographic narrative produced by a community “insider” who has considerable experience of teaching and researching geography. This person-centred methodology acknowledges the subjective nature of teaching, gives voice to important stories that might not otherwise be heard formally and provides a case study that can been used as an exemplar to promote institutional dialogue about quality enhancement and the student experience. The findings from this case study suggest that colleagues may be able to repurpose disciplinary concepts to help make sense of the learning and teaching discourse.