Pedagogical Humility — Interview with Annie Lapierre

Professional humility applied to teaching and pedagogical counselling

Annie Lapierre is in the work of Barret Michalec from Arizona State University. Michalec explains how he tried to find a way to teach empathy to future healthcare professionals. He introduced the term “professional humility” to describe a core concept of interprofessionalism and professional identity formation. Inspired by this idea, Annie applied this concept to her own context as a teacher and pedagogical counsellor, referring to it as “pedagogical humility.”

Annie told me that humility is an attitude. A humble person is open to what others have to say, setting aside their ego.

Forming a pedagogical alliance

Pedagogical humility involves developing a strong relationship with students even before the teaching begins and before thinking of discussing any concepts in class. Some people don’t need this to learn efficiently, but many do. A solid relationship can be the key to students accepting criticism from our feedback regarding their learning.

Inspired by the concept of “therapeutic alliance,” as described by Telio, Ajjawi, and Regehr (2015), it is possible to speak of a true pedagogical alliance. The pedagogical alliance involves an authentic dialogue between teachers and learners. This dialogue is based on:

• a mutual understanding of objectives
• the co-creation of an action plan
• the development of a trust relationship

Building on student feedback

To build a pedagogical alliance, it’s necessary to be open to the students’ interactions and feedback and be willing to adapt your course to their reality.

Indeed, if you show pedagogical humility, you will offer constructive feedback to your students while also making sure you receive feedback from them. Most importantly, you will respond positively to their feedback and adjust your course accordingly.

Annie always begins the semester by asking her students how they prefer to learn and what kind of classes they enjoy… and she adjusts her practices appropriately! This is particularly significant in an intercultural context, such as when Annie works with First Nations people. Varying pedagogical strategies may not be enough to meet students’ needs; we need to adapt our interventions from the very beginning.

Inviting learners to participate in planning learning activities, such as projects, case studies, or roleplays, is a good way to forge a pedagogical alliance. We can even involve students in creating evaluation activities!

At the end of a class, we can ask students for their thoughts. What were its strengths and weaknesses? How was the pace? What could be done differently in the future? Most of all, the comments must be taken into account! We must adapt our pedagogical strategies based on the students’ feedback.

I explained to Annie that lately, asking for feedback on the fly at the end of a class has been rare for me because I don’t often receive much response when I do. One student might nod, another might give a thumbs-up, another might say everything is going well, but most don’t share their thoughts. Annie told me that this is normal. Providing feedback is intimidating for students… but we must keep asking!

Feedback can make students uncomfortable by challenging the deeply rooted idea of a hierarchy between teachers and students. This historical vertical relationship often prevents students from expressing constructive criticism.

— Annie Lapierre

Students are generally not used to having their comments truly valued. It’s important to help them understand that they have the right to express themselves and no longer need to stay silent. An anonymous survey on Forms (or another platform) can also be useful for gathering input from all students, including those who are more reserved.

We need to take the time. We are so focused on the learning objectives and competencies to be achieved that we sometimes forget that we have human beings in front of us.

— Annie Lapierre

Of course, adapting in real time (or almost) to student feedback requires skill. Annie tells me that she is not afraid to take risks. She openly tells her students, “You’re my guinea pigs. I’m going to try things out; let me know what you think.” They are not offended; in fact, they appreciate it! Her students greatly prefer this approach to a 3-hour lecture…

But realistically, we can adopt a strategy of taking small steps to build a bank of materials and teaching activities over time. This way, we avoid the pressure of having to reinvent the wheel each semester. (It involves presenting our choices transparently to our students.) It also reflects the principles of Universal Design for Learning and inclusive pedagogy [in French]: we can ultimately offer learners a variety of pedagogical tools suited to their reality. The advantage of humility is that it enables us to understand the true individual needs of our students during a given semester. We can then direct our efforts towards developing materials or creating activities. (Additionally, Annie reminded me that teachers should not hesitate to ask for help from their pedagogical and technopedagogical counsellors. That’s another way to demonstrate humility!)

Establishing one’s presence

According to Annie, responding quickly to students who send us questions, whether via MIO or Teams, helps to reduce their anxiety regarding evaluations, and contributes to building a relationship with them. This is especially true with online teaching, a context that Annie knows well. When messages sent like bottles into the sea are the only way to reach a teacher, receiving a quick reply is definitely very important for trust building. After all, even remotely, we need to make sure our presence is felt.

Whether in person or online, Annie encourages all teachers to be available (both physically and virtually) between classes. She also suggests creating a help channel on Teams (if that’s the platform you’re using) so students can ask questions and help one another. This way, they feel their questions and contributions are welcome. It will lighten the teacher’s workload while fostering a sense of community within the group.

Annie spoke of a colleague who recorded a 30-second video every week for his distance course, featuring “the joke of the week.” He simply shared a joke related to that week’s course content. This reminded me of my interview with Saul Bogatti [in French] about using humour in college teaching. For Annie, it’s small actions, like the “joke of the week,” that can motivate students to check their emails that week. The same principle applies in person: starting your class with a joke can encourage students to introduce themselves and discuss the joke afterwards, etc.

Showing empathy

Pedagogical humility is strongly connected to the pedagogy of empathy [PDF]. Annie recommends taking the time to talk with students individually to learn about their backgrounds and daily lives. We should also introduce ourselves to students in an authentic way to establish a real relationship with them.

Taking the time to sincerely ask how they are doing can make a huge difference to students. Understanding their personal circumstances is essential for adapting our teaching strategies and addressing their individual needs, whether emotional, economic, social, or academic.

An empathetic relationship between the teacher and learners has several positive effects. Annie actually witnessed the work of a teacher whose pedagogical approach, based on humility, yielded remarkable results: absenteeism was exceptionally low and, notably in a distance learning context, students spontaneously kept their cameras on. This experience confirmed for Annie that when a teacher embraces a humble and attentive attitude, it creates a climate of trust that fosters student engagement. The results speak for themselves.

Respecting the students’ cultures

In an intercultural context, like the one in which Annie teaches, humility also means respecting the students’ cultures.

The concept of cultural humility was developed in 1998 by Tervalon and Murray-Garcia [PDF]. Showing cultural humility means taking the time to fully understand the life and academic experiences of students and their families, particularly when they are not part of the majority culture. In practice, this may include integrating case studies, examples, and theories from various cultures represented in the classroom. We should not impose our own culture but instead remain attentive to the richness of others.

For example, when Annie teaches human development, she doesn’t limit her lessons to theories developed by white people; she also discusses concepts from First Nations cultures (or other theories, depending on the nations represented in the class). She encourages her students to explain how certain ideas are expressed in their languages, where many concepts are often described through periphrases. Understanding the precise meaning of words helps her better grasp the students’ perspectives, enabling her to support their learning more effectively.

Admitting that we don’t know everything

A humble approach involves openly admitting that we don’t know everything. This is intellectual humility. By showing that you don’t have all the answers, it becomes easier for your students to feel comfortable asking questions.

After all, the intellect and the ego are distinct!

Show your students that you are open to reevaluating your views and that you respect the points of view of others. Integrate the experience of your students into your teaching.

In practice, this may involve adopting the role of a facilitator rather than that of an instructor [in French].

In her classes, Annie tries to deconstruct the traditional model where the teacher is perceived as ‘superior’ to the students. Rather than establishing a hierarchical relationship, she aims for a mutual learning environment. The teacher no longer holds a monopoly on knowledge. Ultimately, students sense kindness rather than pressure.

In this regard, co-development is a very interesting approach. Annie has recently used it with great success in an activity she carried out with other teachers.

I asked Annie if intellectual humility might undermine students’ trust in the teacher’s abilities. She assured me it doesn’t. After all, intellectual humility doesn’t make us any less competent; it simply means we’re no longer afraid to say, “I don’t know.” Instead of avoiding difficult questions, we can search for the answers with students. This approach helps create a safe space.

One of Annie’s colleagues once observed, “You know, Annie, if you leave class feeling more tired than your students, there’s a problem.” A teacher must prepare the lesson in advance, but during class, the students should do the work.

For more information

A chapter on pedagogical humility in distance learning, written by Annie, is featured in the book Enseignement à distance au collégial. Expertises et pratiques [in French] (edited by France Lafleur and Ghislain Samson, Presses de l’Université du Québec, 2024). She also led a workshop on pedagogical humility at the 2024 AQPC conference [in French].