Authenticity Lies in the Eye of the Beholder: The Perception of Teachers' Authenticity by their Students

Everything and everybody is urged to be authentic. Brands now need to create authentic experiences in music, artists survive if they are perceived as being real and nowadays, even in political elections, the perception of authenticity is an issue, certainly in the 2016 elections in the United States for both Trump and Sanders. Also, in education, there are those who stress the importance of authenticity. In teacher training programmes, heavily influenced by Carl Rogers, a student is often advised to ‘just be yourself’ and, in a social-constructivist approach, learning environments need to be as authentic as possible. However, ‘just being yourself’ can be one of the most complicated tasks you can give to someone, particularly if they are a teacher or a student teacher. This may sound bizarre, because how could one ever be someone else? But then, the main question is: What does it mean to be ‘yourself’?