<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> Life is full of ambiguities, but as teachers we generally try to teach our students in a manner that sanitizes knowledge of all of its ambiguities. In doing so, we create an educational environment which forces students to learn in a rather meaningless fashion and this in turn leads to a lack of vitality and relevance within the academy. This need not be the case. As teachers, we should reflect on the epistemological foundations of our theories of learning and teaching and to closely examine how our teaching devices and techniques adhere to our theories. Furthermore, we need to be receptive to making any changes in our theories and teaching practice that may be warranted by the critical and creative thinking process that we apply to our professional activities. This paper attempts to guide readers through such a reflexive thinking process by trying to loosely establish a relationship between the deep concept of ambiguity (uncertainty) and some of our theories of learning via the acceptance of the view that the ultimate foundation of all human knowledge is ambiguity. We create and establish the meaning of all of our knowledge via a process of self-referencing logos. An implication of the application of self-referencing logic is the notion that a teacher can simultaneously learn and teach (“the learning teacher”). Thus, this can serve as the basis for developing the model of the “reflexive practitioner” in the teaching profession.</p></abstract>

Life is full of ambiguities, but as teachers we generally try to teach our students in a manner that sanitizes knowledge of all of its ambiguities. In doing so, we create an educational environment which forces students to learn in a rather meaningless fashion and this in turn leads to a lack of vitality and relevance within the academy. This need not be the case. As teachers, we should reflect on the epistemological foundations of our theories of learning and teaching and to closely examine how our teaching devices and techniques adhere to our theories. Furthermore, we need to be receptive to making any changes in our theories and teaching practice that may be warranted by the critical and creative thinking process that we apply to our professional activities. This paper attempts to guide readers through such a reflexive thinking process by trying to loosely establish a relationship between the deep concept of ambiguity (uncertainty) and some of our theories of learning via the acceptance of the view that the ultimate foundation of all human knowledge is ambiguity. We create and establish the meaning of all of our knowledge via a process of self-referencing logos. An implication of the application of self-referencing logic is the notion that a teacher can simultaneously learn and teach (“the learning teacher”). Thus, this can serve as the basis for developing the model of the “reflexive practitioner” in the teaching profession.

The learning teacher: role of ambiguity in education

Professor Emeritus of Economics University of Rhode Island Department of Economics Kingston RI 02881 USA

Journal of Pedagogy

{"article-title":"The learning teacher: role of ambiguity in education"}

Life is full of ambiguities, but as teachers we generally try to teach our students in a manner that sanitizes knowledge of all of its ambiguities. In doing...

The learning teacher: role of ambiguity in education

Published Online: Dec 31, 2013

Page range: 220 - 236

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jped-2013-0012

Keywords
ambiguity, self-referencing logic, reflexive practitioner

This content is open access.

The learning teacher: role of ambiguity in education

Published Online: Dec 31, 2013

Page range: 220 - 236

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jped-2013-0012

Keywordsambiguity, self-referencing logic, reflexive practitioner

This content is open access.

Keywords
ambiguity, self-referencing logic, reflexive practitioner