The construction of teaching roles at Aalborg university centre, 1970–1980

This paper proposes a historical analysis of the development of teaching roles at Aalborg University Centre in its first 10 years. The research highlights three processes through which the interpretation of the new ‘supervisor’ roles was constructed within the problem-oriented, project-based educational model of AUC. First, the authors show that the institutional framework for teaching roles was deliberately left open to significant interpretation from the various faculties of the university; second, the critical theoretical model that had served as a guideline for the inception of project work in Roskilde failed to make an impact in Aalborg, whereas teachers from AUC were more receptive to constructivist psychology as a theoretical framework for practice; third, through community-building and negotiation within the faculties, different interpretations of teaching roles emerged in the different disciplines. The paper closes with a reflection on the implications of these findings for the more general context of higher education.