Academic identities in the contemporary university: seeking new ways of being a university teacher

Abstract

This paper analyzes academic identities and academic agency in the context of knowledge management and production that permeate the contemporary university. A practical argumentation on the meaning of teaching activity seeks to propose, in contrast to traditional approaches, that identity and meaning are constitutive dimensions of present activity. Furthermore, as analyzed, the present action of the teacher, students, and things produces meaning and identity. I argue that, even while immersed in the functional environment of the university, teacher identities are not entirely bound to determination. Instead, it is contended that teaching events often provoke moments of ‘professional desubjectivation’ resulting from the teacher’s response to present situations that demand a different attitude and disposition. The result of this argument presents, through teaching activities, the possibility of enacting educational gestures, such as those shown during study activities. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.