Learning through/about coping with the stress of teaching outside a specialist area in Exercise and Sport Psychology

Abstract

The rationalization and casualization of academic teaching positions in universities has meant that, more and more, teaching staff are being asked to teach outside of their specific field of expertise. This situation may be particularly exaggerated if universities or courses choose to use a small number of units as first block units that include both transition to tertiary education practices and important foundational disciplinary content. Ideally, it is suggested that with good unit design and expert unit conveners overseeing this teaching and supporting these teachers, the use of non-experts should be seamless. But what are the consequences for the non-expert? In this paper, we look specifically at the forms of anxiety that are faced by non-expert teaching staff, the ways that this anxiety is dealt with by both the teachers and the unit convener, and the ways that these experiences of anxiety can be used to engage with students in the class.