An outline of a pedagogical rhetorical interactional methodology – researching teachers’ responsibility for supporting students’ desire to learn as well as their actual learning

Abstract

Educational research in higher education needs a methodology for how to think and act in relation to how pedagogical interactions support learning. A methodology that can identify how pedagogical rhetorical qualities, such as confidence and a desire to learn, are embedded in a pedagogical interaction. This article presents an outline of a pedagogical rhetorical interactional methodology that enables us to elucidate the responsibility teachers in higher education have for supporting their students’ desire to learn as well as for their actual learning. To illustrate how we can apply this methodological approach to empirical data, we present two examples I. A supportive learning context, and II. A non—supportive learning context. These examples illustrate that this methodological approach will contribute to a deeper understanding of what matters when teachers’ expressions establish a pedagogical interaction.