Rethinking Teaching Competence in Higher Education: Toward Humility, Humanity and Pedagogical Risk-taking

The aim of the study is to explore how established competency frameworks in teacher education - particularly the model proposed by Dervenis, Fitsilis and Iatrellis (2022) - intersect with the lived realities, challenges, and tensions experienced by a higher education teacher educator. Using critical reflection as the methodological approach, personal teaching experiences, classroom interactions, and professional dilemmas in light of six key competency dimensions: personality, professionalism, educational practice, scientificity, communication, and digitality are analyzed and exemplified. This process reveals several central findings: the difficulty of defining and measuring teaching competence; the influence of student perceptions on learning outcomes; the overlapping and context-dependent nature of competency dimensions; and the need for educators to balance expertise with vulnerability, emotional regulation, and adaptability. The analysis further highlights the importance of creativity, authenticity, and activist pedagogical stances in contemporary higher education. Overall, the study argues for a more human-centered, reflective, and dynamic understanding of teaching competence - one that acknowledges complexity, embraces uncertainty, and positions educators as humble facilitators of learning rather than static experts.