Exercising Teacher Power Responsibly – A reflection of The Skillful Teacher, Chapter 18
Brookfield’s view of power in the classroom and how it plays out for me was an interesting read. He states that the teacher must always remember that he will be viewed ( hopefully) as the person in charge and that the students are not there wanting to be his friend. Brookfield states that teachers’ power should to be used to inspire, guide, and encourage. It can also be used incorrectly to punish, diminish and massage ones ego. (Brookfield, 2015)
Linc Fisch (1992) states the power of the teacher is used for maintaining control in the classroom - that is, being able to run through our agenda or accomplish our goals without distraction or disruption, maintaining the authority that derives from our knowledge and position.
When my faculty begins each class we hand out course syllabus, and expectations of both students and teachers. We try to make it a place where they feel comfortable to speak without raising hands as they are mostly all above 20, some in their 40’s! Because our tests are mostly numerical answers, there is just one correct answer. Nothing is up for interpretation or how inspiring a paper was. No one can be played as a teachers favourite. Whether I like a student or not, all they have to do is answer correctly. I cannot simply change a mark from correct to incorrect or vise versa!
Telling students that that all I can do to help you pass is mark your tests. Choosing the correct answer is entirely up to them. Offering extra help after class could possibly used as a power play over students by denying additional help to certain students. Remembering the mantra as stated by Linc Fisch, Thou shalt not use students for thy personal gain. Thou shalt not do power trips. I strive to make myself available for additional help after class, but that time is entirely up to me. I don’t believe this has ever been an issue in my class because student don’t normally stay for help as they are exhausted, and, they learn most all of it in class time taking home examples to follow. I start each class by letting them know my office hours as they are flexible, but some days I need to leave at a set time.
Brookfield also mentions how students may leave a class en masse to get refreshments or use the toilet, leaving you wondering whether or not to carry on with the class. Timing breaks every hour was his solution to this problem. (Brookfield, 2015) Simply knowing that people DO need to use the bathroom, myself included, and can’t always time it for breaks especially in this coffee drinking era my students are welcome to leave at any time. If they want to leave and not come back, that’s also ok. They are here to learn. They have paid for the course and will get an increase in pay IF they pass the material. Going back to their employer and telling them they will need another 10 weeks off for another attempt is not a good option. If they have tried and not been successful it’s understandable.
That being said I feel that I have a few advantages over elementary and high school teachers. All my students come to class to succeed. They signed up and paid to be there combined with no income for 10 weeks. I am fortunate enough to do little to get them to show up on time and do well in class. My only concern is making the material interesting to learn so there isn’t a struggle to learn. Having your head in a book all day is not the way to learn. Having an instructor wagging a finger and telling them they are late for class or missed a day also doesn’t help. If they are late there is likely a good reason for it and don’t need to ask. I have an open door policy for attendance because of the nature of the class. All they are required to do if they are away is send an email saying they are away, without a reason. Using this practice keeps tension of being sick or having an appointment down.
My attendance in my classes is almost always 100% because of this. I have been asked several times by students why I don’t take attendance. They are surprised that I actually do. I look at the class and notice all the seats are full. Why call out everyone’s name each day?!
References
Brookfield, S.D., (2015). The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Linc Fisch http://podnetwork.org/content/uploads/V4-N1-Fisch.pdf Essays on Teaching Excellence Toward the Best in the Academy Volume 4, Number 1, 1992-93
Brookfield’s view of power in the classroom and how it plays out for me was an interesting read. He states that the teacher must always remember that he will be viewed ( hopefully) as the person in charge and that the students are not there wanting to be his friend. Brookfield states that teachers’ power should to be used to inspire, guide, and encourage. It can also be used incorrectly to punish, diminish and massage ones ego. (Brookfield, 2015)
Linc Fisch (1992) states the power of the teacher is used for maintaining control in the classroom - that is, being able to run through our agenda or accomplish our goals without distraction or disruption, maintaining the authority that derives from our knowledge and position.
When my faculty begins each class we hand out course syllabus, and expectations of both students and teachers. We try to make it a place where they feel comfortable to speak without raising hands as they are mostly all above 20, some in their 40’s! Because our tests are mostly numerical answers, there is just one correct answer. Nothing is up for interpretation or how inspiring a paper was. No one can be played as a teachers favourite. Whether I like a student or not, all they have to do is answer correctly. I cannot simply change a mark from correct to incorrect or vise versa!
Telling students that that all I can do to help you pass is mark your tests. Choosing the correct answer is entirely up to them. Offering extra help after class could possibly used as a power play over students by denying additional help to certain students. Remembering the mantra as stated by Linc Fisch, Thou shalt not use students for thy personal gain. Thou shalt not do power trips. I strive to make myself available for additional help after class, but that time is entirely up to me. I don’t believe this has ever been an issue in my class because student don’t normally stay for help as they are exhausted, and, they learn most all of it in class time taking home examples to follow. I start each class by letting them know my office hours as they are flexible, but some days I need to leave at a set time.
Brookfield also mentions how students may leave a class en masse to get refreshments or use the toilet, leaving you wondering whether or not to carry on with the class. Timing breaks every hour was his solution to this problem. (Brookfield, 2015) Simply knowing that people DO need to use the bathroom, myself included, and can’t always time it for breaks especially in this coffee drinking era my students are welcome to leave at any time. If they want to leave and not come back, that’s also ok. They are here to learn. They have paid for the course and will get an increase in pay IF they pass the material. Going back to their employer and telling them they will need another 10 weeks off for another attempt is not a good option. If they have tried and not been successful it’s understandable.
That being said I feel that I have a few advantages over elementary and high school teachers. All my students come to class to succeed. They signed up and paid to be there combined with no income for 10 weeks. I am fortunate enough to do little to get them to show up on time and do well in class. My only concern is making the material interesting to learn so there isn’t a struggle to learn. Having your head in a book all day is not the way to learn. Having an instructor wagging a finger and telling them they are late for class or missed a day also doesn’t help. If they are late there is likely a good reason for it and don’t need to ask. I have an open door policy for attendance because of the nature of the class. All they are required to do if they are away is send an email saying they are away, without a reason. Using this practice keeps tension of being sick or having an appointment down.
My attendance in my classes is almost always 100% because of this. I have been asked several times by students why I don’t take attendance. They are surprised that I actually do. I look at the class and notice all the seats are full. Why call out everyone’s name each day?!
References
Brookfield, S.D., (2015). The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Linc Fisch http://podnetwork.org/content/uploads/V4-N1-Fisch.pdf Essays on Teaching Excellence Toward the Best in the Academy Volume 4, Number 1, 1992-93