Conceptualizing teacher immediacy through the ‘companion’ metaphor

Abstract

Situated within the critical pedagogic scholarship that deals with the issue of ‘teacher immediacy’, this study proposes an understanding of the practice of pedagogy through the metaphor of ‘companionship’. A friendly individual but not a friend, the instructor is seen here as someone who can connect to college-age students without any visible effort and someone who makes explicit use of the power dynamics in a classroom to foster academic excellence. The companion model is first compared to other pedagogical models that are conceptualized through metaphors (e.g. in loco parentis, ‘teacher-as-entertainer’) and is then evaluated in terms of its potential weaknesses.

Keywords:

• pedagogy
• critical
• metaphor
• immediacy
• companion

Notes

1. The student must recognize that attempt, if critical pedagogy is to be thoroughly transparent and honest, as far as the student–teacher relationship is concerned. I recommend actually setting aside time in class for discussing ‘what I'm doing and why you like me’ (should this phenomenon actually occur, of course). In other words, I would share with the class not only the mechanisms by which I disseminate information, but also some of the strategies I adopt to gain popularity with students.

2. Alonso proposes the ‘professional parent’ model in the context of the field of social work. The label refers to the relationship between student social workers and their supervisors.