Teaching activity at universities: Conditions, dimensions and tensions

The current article addresses the issue of university teaching activity from an interpretative perspective. This collective case study stems from semi-structured interviews with 69 professors at two universities in Argentina and one in Spain. The analysis is focused on different aspects that make un...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Walker, Verónica Soledad
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repositorio:Perfiles Educativos
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/57638
Acceso en línea:https://perfileseducativos.unam.mx/iisue_pe/index.php/perfiles/article/view/57638
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Teaching activity
University
Working conditions
Work organization
Work intensification
Trabajo docente
Universidad
Condiciones de trabajo
Organización del trabajo
Intensificación del trabajo
Descripción
Sumario:The current article addresses the issue of university teaching activity from an interpretative perspective. This collective case study stems from semi-structured interviews with 69 professors at two universities in Argentina and one in Spain. The analysis is focused on different aspects that make university teaching activity a complex, heterogeneous and specific practice that is experienced and perceived differently by professors given their particular positions within the university. This analysis allows for an appreciation of the diversity and multiplicity of activities—prescribed and real, substantial and strategic—that teaching activity at a university level demands, the variety of symbolic and material conditions under which this activity takes place, and the tensions it faces. The author suggests that very varied experiences, vested in an apparent uniformity of demands and conditions, co-exist under the single category of “teaching activity.”