By Yihang Xu

“… even just in the few conversations we’ve had, you’ll notice that there’s almost a departmental identity crisis…”

—— Grace, Learning Strategist

Grace is right. Through my interviews with learning strategists in the Center for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS) at the University of Toronto (UofT), I’ve noticed an identity crisis among them. This is surprising given the passion and fulfillment many, including Grace, expressed about their jobs as learning strategists, which is puzzling for me as a researcher.

But what exactly defines the identity of a learning strategist? As one of my informants describes it, learning strategists are professionals who help students improve their learning and studying practices. Their work spans one-on-one appointments, workshops, and programs, focusing on metacognitive learning strategies, self-regulation, academic habits, self-efficacy, and resourcefulness. In essence, they guide students through academic challenges at UofT.

However, academic life is deeply intertwined with other facets of students’ lives, such as mental health and family situations. Kelly, another learning strategist, reflected on this complexity: “I often encounter issues in students’ lives that are deeply tied to mental health or family situations, and while I want to help, I have to remind myself that I’m not a therapist.” Although she strives to provide holistic support, Kelly acknowledges the boundaries of her role. When personal issues become too dominant in shaping a student’s academic life, she must refer them to other services, such as the health and wellness center. This inability to address non-academic issues fully is a source of frustration but remains an inherent limitation of the role.

The identity crisis arises from a tension between the desire to offer holistic support and the institutional constraints defining their role. Learning strategists aspire to support students comprehensively, but their work is bound by institutional frameworks that emphasize academic-related issues. This tension reflects a broader dynamic of pastoral power, a concept from Foucault. Pastoral power operates through care, fostering individuality while aligning individuals with institutional objectives (Foucault 1982, 214). Learning strategists embody this dynamic, providing individualized support while steering students toward institutional expectations.

However, the exercise of power is never neutral; it is shaped by institutional structures and expectations (Li 2023, 215). The CLSS’s structure limits how far pastoral power can extend, demanding that learning strategists maintain professional boundaries and defer to other departments for issues beyond their expertise. UofT’s fragmentation of student services creates a gap between their aspirational identity as holistic supporters and their defined role.

Such an identity crisis illuminates how power operates in higher education. Learning strategists balance care and institutional boundaries, navigating their role as facilitators of academic success while contending with the limitations imposed by institutional limitations. Ultimately, their identity is not only shaped by their passion for student support but also by the broader structures of power and governance within the university.

Bibliography

Foucault, Michel. 1982. “Afterword: The Subject and Power.” In Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics, edited by Hubert L. Dreyfus and Paul Rabinow, 208–226. Brighton: Harvester.

Li, Tania Murray. 2023. “Foucault Foments Fieldwork at the University.” In Philosophy on Fieldwork, 1st ed., 214–30. United Kingdom: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003086253-12.