Locating Pedagogy in Higher Education - Critical Reflections as A Pedagogue

Abstract

The relationship between pedagogy and higher education needs to fully explain its current educational practices. This question --which appears simple but contains deep philosophical meaning-- represents the main issue which this paper studies. The research examines how contemporary higher education institutions use pedagogical methods through personal experiences and theoretical frameworks and self-reflection. The research shows that research-focused academic environments together with managerial and market-driven educational systems have created a situation which forces educators to work without acknowledgment of their teaching abilities. The paper defines the higher education teaching professional through their three essential practices which include critical pedagogical assessment and their dedication to epistemological knowledge and active complete reflective process. The paper shows how pedagogues face three major conflicts which include institutional mandates versus their desire for creative expression and their need to maintain student happiness versus their need to provide educational hurdles and their obligation to impartiality versus their obligation to express their personal viewpoints. The research demonstrates that academic institutions use pedagogical methods to create an educational system which decides who can access learning materials and which types of knowledge get recognized and which educational outcomes future citizens will achieve.