ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the artistry of teaching, presenting teaching and learning in higher education as a complex, creative and dynamic set of interactions. Expertise is explored from two perspectives: from developing routine, procedural knowledge to negotiating teaching encounters as an adaptive process. It is argued that teaching consists of planned, routine elements, but that there is also much unpredictability which requires teachers (and students) to be able to adapt as learning and teaching encounters unfold. Against this backdrop, the skills used by performing artists are drawn upon, focusing in particular on the adaptive skill of improvisation, which requires the improviser to use their previous experiences to (re)act spontaneously to developing circumstances. It is argued that improvisation promotes a student-centred approach to teaching, as it encourages the teacher to observe, notice and focus on others. In the teaching context, this means the improvising teacher is adept at focusing on and responding to learners. To explore this in concrete terms, a case study is presented of a workshop on performative aspects of teaching for graduate teaching assistants, outlining examples of improvisation activities that can help teachers to develop adaptive expertise in their educational practice.
