‘Precarity and Power Relations’: Navigating the Transition from Industry Professional to Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA)

Abstract

The role of the Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) has been established as a “liminal space between studenthood and teacherhood” (Elliott & Marie, 2021: 71.) and even contested as a kind of “limbo” (Compton & Tran, 2017). Interestingly, however, most research only considers the joint role of GTA as both teacher and student, without considering the possible external professional roles and identities held by various GTAs.  Resultantly there exists a gap in the literature in which the dynamics of the transition from industry professional to GTA are unexplored.

This paper seeks to address this gap by examining the transition of a professional strength and conditioning coach into the role of a GTA, specifically, a GTA based in the United Kingdom whose primary PhD research uses sociocultural theories and the post-structuralist work of Michel Foucault (1977, 1978, 1983a, 1983b, 1991). Building upon Campbell’s (2022: 209) suggestion that the “autobiographical method is a valuable tool for GTAs to support the exploration of the meanings of their multi-memberships,” the paper is structured as a reflective essay enriched with autobiographic and autoethnographic ‘moments.’  These ‘moments’ are then analysed for themes relevant to the broader conversation around GTAs, as well as through a Foucauldian theoretical lens.

Finally, and crucially, although this paper draws upon one specific professional's experience, it is intended that the observations, themes (precarity, cultural difference, uncertainty, and the importance of ‘Problematisation’) and analyses are far more broadly applicable and presented in a way that allows for enriching conversations across multiple industries.