Abstract
This exploratory, arts-based study investigates how three tenured professors in a humanities department conceptualize graduate-level teaching and envision their ideal graduate classrooms. Through semi-structured interviews, qualitative coding, and arts-based interpretation, the study identifies three key tensions in their pedagogical thinking: balancing independence and structure, the stigma surrounding “undergraddy” approaches, and valuing long-term intellectual struggle as a means to master threshold concepts. Despite clear visions for ideal pedagogies, professors face significant barriers to implementing them, including time constraints and entrenched norms about what graduate education “ought” to look like. Findings suggest that despite strong pedagogical insight, professors struggle to bridge the gap between ideal and actual practice. The study calls for further research, sustained pedagogical development, and more inclusive, transparent teaching practices that better support the needs of diverse graduate learners by enhancing their self-efficacy and disciplinary enculturation.
Copyright held by
Chris Mayer