TY - JOUR

T1 - An educators’ perspective on reflexive pedagogy

T2 - identity undoing and issues of power

AU - Iszatt-White, Marian

AU - Kempster, Stephen John

AU - Carroll, Brigid

N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Management Learning, 48 (5), 2017, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2017 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Management Learning page: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/mlq on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/

PY - 2017/11/1

Y1 - 2017/11/1

N2 - This article looks at reflexive pedagogical practice and the ‘identity undoing’ that such practice demands from educators. Such identity undoing is found to have strong connections to the impact on identity of power relations, resistance and struggle. A dialogic ‘testimonio’ approach is adopted tracing two of the authors’ experiences of attempting to introduce a reflexive pedagogy within a structured, accredited learning intervention. This approach analyses educators’ own reflexive dialogue to make visible the assumptions and tensions that are provoked between educators and students in a reflexively orientated learning process. In undertaking this analysis, we problematize the pursuit of a reflexive pedagogical practice within executive and postgraduate education and offer a paradox: the desire to engage students in reflexive learning interventions - and in particular to disrupt the power asymmetries and hierarchical dependencies of more traditional educator-student relationships - can in practice have the effect of highlighting those very asymmetries and dependencies. Successful resolution of such a paradox becomes dependent on the capacity of educators to undo their own reliance on and even desire for authority underpinned by a sense of theory-based expertise.

AB - This article looks at reflexive pedagogical practice and the ‘identity undoing’ that such practice demands from educators. Such identity undoing is found to have strong connections to the impact on identity of power relations, resistance and struggle. A dialogic ‘testimonio’ approach is adopted tracing two of the authors’ experiences of attempting to introduce a reflexive pedagogy within a structured, accredited learning intervention. This approach analyses educators’ own reflexive dialogue to make visible the assumptions and tensions that are provoked between educators and students in a reflexively orientated learning process. In undertaking this analysis, we problematize the pursuit of a reflexive pedagogical practice within executive and postgraduate education and offer a paradox: the desire to engage students in reflexive learning interventions - and in particular to disrupt the power asymmetries and hierarchical dependencies of more traditional educator-student relationships - can in practice have the effect of highlighting those very asymmetries and dependencies. Successful resolution of such a paradox becomes dependent on the capacity of educators to undo their own reliance on and even desire for authority underpinned by a sense of theory-based expertise.

KW - reflexive dialogue

KW - reflexive pedagogy

KW - power

KW - identity undoing

KW - leadership development

KW - educator

U2 - 10.1177/1350507617718256

DO - 10.1177/1350507617718256

M3 - Journal article

VL - 48

SP - 582

EP - 596

JO - Management Learning

JF - Management Learning

SN - 1350-5076

IS - 5

ER -