Teaching unfamiliar content can lead to brilliant teaching: Data-led reflections
Source: https://journals.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/jppp/article/view/2133 Parent: https://journals.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/jppp
Authors
- Junjie Li
- Xinran Gao
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31273/0yqtvr35
Abstract
Unfamiliarity constitutes one of the major challenges faced by novice practitioners while constructing teacher identities. It is often associated with the perceived uncertainties and lack of ownership or autonomy in navigating pedagogical complexities. In practice, any module may entail a sense of unfamiliarity for PGR teachers because they are not involved in the content development processes, usually initiated by the senior module leaders. In writing this article, we seek to reflect on our teaching experiences in three academic departments/centres. As our data-led reflections will show, multiple situated complexities play out in our attempts to mitigate the initially perceived unfamiliarity and externally prescribed non-expert role. The overarching aim is to shed light on strategic negotiation and construction of effective Higher Education professional identities while engaging in interdisciplinary practice. Following a qualitative methodological tradition, the data is generated from iterative reflective journaling and a series of peer dialogues, spanning two academic terms. We approach the data inductively via reflexive thematic analysis, highlighting three major themes in the two narrative reflections: 1) taking a humble stance to acknowledge the signature pedagogy of the unfamiliar field; 2) recognising the core threshold concepts from an etic perspective; and 3) fostering a bottom-up awareness of taking the students’ perspectives as near-peers. The data analysis is based on concrete examples to foreground actionable pedagogical recommendations, which are tried and tested in our own professional development. As such, we will argue that teaching unfamiliar content can lead to brilliant teaching.
Author Biographies
- Junjie Li
Junjie Li is a final-year PhD candidate in the Department of Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick. Specialising in motivation of young learners, he does qualitative research with children to understand emerging language learning motivation. His research interests span motivation, creativity, sense of agency, L2 self-concept, ethnography, and participatory approach. His work has appeared in journals including Research Methods in Applied Linguistics (Elsevier) and Language Teaching by Cambridge University Press. Junjie also works as MA Dissertation Supervisor and Senior Graduate Teaching Assistant in Applied Linguistics and Education Studies. - Xinran Gao
Xinran Gao is a final-year PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick. Her research examines sociophonetics and language variation, integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches to explore paralinguistic features and their role in shaping speaker characteristics and information exchange. She has extensive teaching experience as a GTA across undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Applied Linguistics, the Department of Computer Science, and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies. Xinran is also undertaking a Postgraduate Award in Interdisciplinary Pedagogy, demonstrating her commitment to innovative teaching practices that bridge disciplinary boundaries.
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Published
2025-12-09
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Copyright (c) 2025 Junjie Li, Xinran Gao
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