Situationally orchestrated pedagogy: Teacher reflections on positioning as expert, facilitator, and caregiver

Abstract

Based on qualitative data generated during a faculty development program for teachers of first-year students at a Danish business school, we explore teachers’ reflections about tactically mobilizing different positions in teaching situations. We propose that positioning theory offers a promising tool for understanding teachers’ assumptions about their professional identities and, when used in faculty development programs, can strengthen teachers’ awareness that they can situationally orchestrate pedagogy by purposefully shifting between different positions. Over time, this awareness may help to develop teachers’ situational wisdom. We introduce the concept of “pedagogical positioner” to capture this meta-positioning skill. We further identify three positions that teachers can adopt when teaching first-year students: the content expert, the learning facilitator, and the supportive caregiver. Based on positioning theory, we conceptualize the discursive positions, storylines, and rights and duties that emerge in teachers’ accounts of these shifts. Finally, we discuss the advantages and limitations of reflexive and interactive positioning in teaching, and suggest how awareness about different positions might be fostered through faculty development programs.