An Interdisciplinary Interrogation of Authenticity in Teaching and Teacher Education

It is widely accepted that authenticity is a desirable trait in teaching, carrying within it the promise of constructive educational relationships and genuine human connection. However, as with many taken-for-granted concepts, what we actually mean by authenticity in teaching is not always entirely clear. The theme of this conference acted as a catalyst for us, a group of teacher educators from various disciplinary backgrounds, to explore and unpack our understandings of authenticity. Our reflective interdisciplinary conversations highlighted how we, and others, have often used the concept of authentic teaching or authentic teachers loosely, implicitly assuming it to be a desirable trait both for our student teachers and for ourselves as teacher educators. Through our discussions, we came to acknowledge the lack of clarity regarding its meaning, and the potential challenges associated with it. In positioning authenticity as a vaguely defined goal for teachers, it was not always obvious what the aims of authenticity were nor where its limits lay. As our conversations spanned various disciplinary perspectives and historical contexts, it became clear that a superficial application of authenticity is not only confusing, but also potentially problematic, as it may lead to interpretations with unintended (or intended) negative consequences.

In this symposium, which takes the format of an extended interdisciplinary dialogue, we will critically interrogate the discourses surrounding authenticity in teaching and teacher education. In our exploration we interrogate authenticity alongside key concepts and theories from each of the foundational disciplinary perspectives. We welcome the opportunity to further critically examine and refine our understandings of authenticity, and to provoke a more thoughtful and rigorous discussion of its place within education and teacher education. We also aim to address common misconceptions and critically challenge the binaries often drawn between authenticity and performativity, artificiality, and control.

We begin the symposium by providing brief overviews of the concept of ‘authenticity’ from our diverse disciplinary perspectives, which aim to orientate attendees to some of the key questions around the concept. Following the short individual presentations, we will develop a critical interdisciplinary perspective on authenticity in teaching and teacher education through exploring the following core questions together, inviting the audience also to contribute to the discussion:

How can we more usefully conceptualise authenticity within the context of teaching and teacher education?

In what ways can the concept of authenticity inform and advance the theoretical frameworks and practical methodologies used in teacher education?

How do various factors, such as educational policies, cultural norms, and personal experiences, contribute to or complicate the process of striving for authenticity in teaching?

What does the era of artificial intelligence mean for teacher authenticity and for the authenticity of humanity and human relationships?

We will conceptualise authenticity in teaching as a dynamic, contextually situated process that evolves across time, settings, and relationships, with both potential benefits and pitfalls. By engaging deeply with these complexities, the symposium aims to advance a more nuanced understanding of authenticity, and of its role, in teaching and teacher education.

Educational Futures in a Post-Truth World: From History to Historiography of Education

Authenticity is foundational to historical study in general, and the history of education in particular. In understanding our pasts, individual and shared, we rely on discerning what is authentic, and indeed, how that conforms with what is accurate: “Authenticity, however, refers to an impression of accuracy and the extent to which readers believe that a representation captures the past. Appraisals of authenticity are subjective and are shaped by the prior representations of the past that have been encountered by an individual reader.” (Saxton, 2019)
Authenticity and accuracy are critical to the comprehension of what indeed took place, and why a given historical context or development is important for the living, present moment and our envisioned educational future.
As in other disciplines of education, within the study of the history of education, authenticity is a complex and contested concept. Key influences significantly determine our framing and construal of the ‘authenticity’ of educational histories, both personal and social. These can include the prevailing or established politico-religious context (a crucial determinant in many countries, notably Ireland); the availability and accessibility of historical research; and furthermore, how this historical evidence and interpretation is positioned and presented. Crucially, in the contemporary moment, the teaching of the history of education is increasingly faced with challenges and opportunities with respect to factualness and veracity.
The proliferation of revisionist and counter histories, and propagandas all contrive, it would seem, to undermine historical accuracy. They challenge the history of education student and teacher to strive to unearth what indeed happened, and how historical insight into a given event is important to enhance our understanding of education today, and our design of more inclusive educational futures. There is, it would seem, a contemporary imperative to move from history to historiography of education. Furthermore, technology is significantly impacting historical study and the history of education, from digitised archival material to AI, with its potential to visualise and virtualise the past.
This paper explores the tensions inscribed in the liminal, interpretative spaces between accuracy and authenticity in history of education. A critical-historiographical perspective will be adopted in examining how innovations in the study of individual and shared educational histories, including autoethnographic methods and new technologies, including artificial intelligence, are opening new spaces for authentic discussion in the history of education. The paper will also consider how authenticity in the history of education can be bolstered and enhanced by drawing on its associated educational sciences and disciplines of education, specifically the philosophy, psychology, sociology and technology of education.