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

Abstract

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.