Pedagogical Responsibility in (Digitalized) Classroom Interaction: Empirical Reconstructions and Theoretical Reflections on the Teaching Profession

Abstract

The paper addresses the question of how relations of responsibility between teachers, students, and (digital) media emerge in situated classroom interaction. In analyzing classroom talk, we reconstruct four typical modes of teachers' enactment of pedagogical responsibility that are located between two differential poles. On the one hand, disciplining the students towards appropriate use of (digital) media and, on the other hand, promoting responsibilisation, that is, placing the responsibility largely upon the students. Each mode is distinctive in the way teachers take responsibility for students' learning. Through the empirical exploration of the concept of pedagogical responsibility, attention is specifically drawn to the situational production of pedagogical relations, which we aim to address and reflect upon in relation to professional theory.