On the border between silence and meaning. Existential questions about truth and appearance in academic work

Abstrakt

A conversation with Dr Adrianna Sarnat–Ciastko concerns the multidimensional experience of boundaries in the work of an academic teacher. These boundaries manifest themselves on a personal level (sense of competence, emotions, professional role), relational level (contact with students, crossing status boundaries, the meaning of silence), organisational level (teaching workload, pace of work, university culture) and cultural–generational level (clash between different generations of students and teachers). Silence becomes a special analytical category – understood both as an obstacle to dialogue and as a teaching tool, an indicator of maturity and trust, and a space for reflection. The interviewee also offers a critical reflection on the contemporary university, pointing to the tension between the logic of the "regime of speed," productivism and the appearance of quality, and the need for slowness, relationality and authenticity in academic education. The interview reveals the experience of teaching as an ethical and existential practice, rooted in relationships with others and in the constant negotiation of boundaries.