Enabling Participation in Academic Discourse

Author: NORTHEDGE ANDREW  

Publisher: Routledge Ltd

ISSN: 1470-1294

Source: Teaching in Higher Education, Vol.8, Iss.2, 2003-01, pp. : 169-180

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

Enthusiasm for replacing the didactic authoritarian pedagogue with the learning facilitator has seemed to call into question the role of the teacher as subject expert. Yet students need an insider's expertise to support them in gaining access to the academic discourses they seek to become conversant with. The teacher, as subject expert, has three key roles to play in enabling learning: lending the capacity to participate in meaning, designing well planned excursions into unfamiliar discursive terrain and coaching students in speaking the academic discourse. Each demands the skill and insight of an established and fluent member of the relevant academic community. These three roles are explored, using examples to demonstrate how they can be enacted successfully.