The Ethical Use of Teacher Power Stephen Brookfield
The Ethical Use of Teacher Power Stephen Brookfield University of St. Thomas (Minneapolis-St. Paul) www. stephenbrookfield. com
HOME PAGE - www. stephenbrookfield. com • My home page is open access so if you want to find out more about any of the exercises or activities I mention go to the page and click on the ‘Resources’ link. • Scroll down to ‘Workshop Materials’ for PDF files or power points of stuffed with activities & exercises. • You do not need to ask my permission to use any of these resources. If they’re useful then please try them out and adapt them to your context. • www. stephenbrookfield. com
Todays Meet • Go to: www. todaysmeet. com/mhc • Sign in by creating a nickname for yourself USING ONLY NUMBERS! (birthday, favorite year, random #’s) • Please post a greeting so we know the system is working
Todays Meet - Anonymity • Students post reactions, questions, criticisms. You check the feed every 10 -15 minutes. Provides immediate information about students’ learning & experience. Also helps checking for understanding. • Students can ask ‘dumb’ questions, clarify assignment instructions or query grading policies without embarrassment, risk. • Anonymity means issues of race, racism, microaggressions are more likely to be raised than via direct speech. • Open a session w/ a question to which all respond. This tells you the perspectives & levels of understanding students bring to the topic. • Pose a question if you think problems are emerging – What am I doing that most bothers you? What’s most confusing about my instructions? How well am I addressing race? What course changes would help you?
Introducing Myself • History of academic mediocrity – failed my college track exams, my university entrance exams, graduated well in the bottom half of my class, failed my master’s degree exam – Broadening student-centered assessment measures • Watching doctoral supervisor – give me inconvenient news in a way I knew was in my best interests Ethical use of teacher power Relational underpinnings to teaching
Introducing Myself – ? A Good White? • Someone who didn’t see race, was color blind, free from racist instincts, biases and impulses, treated everyone the same • Someone committed to anti-racist sentiments & actions • Who is Actually… • Full of learned racism – blackness as danger, animalistic • A carrier & enactor of white supremacy – whites should naturally assume leadership roles because of their higher intelligence, ability to use logic, think objectively & rationally • Regularly commits micro-aggressions – small, daily, unintended acts of exclusion, diminishment & marginalization
AUTHORITY & POWER • AUTHORITY – necessary expertise, experience & pedagogic skill to be designated as a teacher • AUTHORITATIVE TEACHING • directions rooted in experience of what will best help students learn • rationale for actions clearly communicated • encourages critique • POWER – the exercise of pressure & energy to move students beyond where they are now so they…. • Think more critically & skeptically about dominant ideologies • Communicate more confidently • Reason more autonomously to trust their own judgments • Develop purposeful collective projects
www. todaysmeet. com/mhc • When have you witnessed or enacted an ethical use of teacher power?
Ethical Pedagogy: Decentering Teacher Authority • A liberal arts education emphasizes development of students ability to think critically, develop autonomous judgment and exercise independent reasoning • Teacher provides content & epistemological grammar then move to the sidelines – a fly on the wall • Students claim voices in discussion & personal experience is valorized as a legitimate source of truth • Teachers say little or nothing for fear of biasing discussion & messaging what are ‘correct’ opinions
Herbert Marcuse – Repressive Tolerance • Dignifying each student’s personhood results in a refusal to point out the ideologically skewed nature of particular contributions, let alone saying someone is wrong. • Marcuse - the ideology of democratic tolerance in discussion groups means that “the stupid opinion is treated with the same respect as the intelligent one, the misinformed may talk as long as the informed, and propaganda rides along with falsehood. This pure tolerance of sense and nonsense is justified by the democratic argument that nobody, neither group nor individual, is in possession of the truth and capable of defining what is right and wrong, good and bad” (1965, p. 94).
What Students Value: CREDIBILITY • Expertise – We Know Our Stuff, We Often Demonstrate Expertise, We Respond Well to Unexpected Questions • Experience – We’ve Been Around the Block Intellectually & Pedagogically • Rationale – There is a Method to Our Madness The Skillful Teacher 2015 (3. Ed. ) rd
What Students Value: AUTHENTICITY • CONGRUENCE – Of Words & Actions • FULL DISCLOSURE – Of Expectations, Criteria, & Agendas • RESPONSIVENESS – to Students’ Concerns • PERSONHOOD – Appropriate Autobiographical Disclosure • The Skillful Teacher 2015 (3 rd. Ed. )
In Students’ Eyes what’s an Authentic Use of Power? • Most Frequent Responses…. • To make sure no-one dominates • To keep us on track • To move us into challenges we need to face • To give everyone a chance to contribute • To allow us choice in how we show you what we’ve learned • To deal with our concerns honestly & quickly • To avoid playing games • To tell us the truth about how we’re really doing • Powerful Techniques for the Teaching of Adults 2013
Democratizing Classrooms • A constant attempt to ensure that no-one’s voice is overlooked • Unearthing & responding to shared concerns • Creating multiple assessment modalities • An intentional effort to explore the widest range of knowledge & perspectives on an issue • A commitment to avoid reaching a premature consensus • A skepticism of majority votes • Creating maximum opportunities for student decision-making • Giving honest & regular feedback
Approaches • Social Media – Immediacy & Anonymity • Classroom Assessment – Critical Incident Questionnaire • Discussion Protocols – Circle of Voices • Silent & Visual Modalities – Chalk Talk • Truth Telling in Assessment • Teacher Modeling • The Discussion Book (Stephen Brookfield & Stephen Preskill, 2015)
Critical Incident Questionnaire • Most Engaged Moment as a Learner • Most Distanced Moment as a Learner • Most Helpful Action • Most Puzzling Action • What Surprised You Most • Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher 2017 (2 nd. Ed. )
How Administered • Last 5 minutes of last class • Anonymous • Report back main themes at the start of the next class – frequency analysis 10% • Invite student responses • Respond to comments • Point out diversity & contradictions • Negotiation NOT capitulation • Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher 2017 (2 nd. Ed. )
Circle of Voices • Individuals reflect on the discussion topic (1 -3 minutes) • Participants go round the circle in order - each person has up to 1 minute of uninterrupted air time to give their viewpoint on the topic. No interruptions are allowed • Move into free discussion with the ground rule that every comment offered must somehow refer back to a comment made by someone else in the opening circle of voices. This need NOT be agreement - it can be a disagreement, a question, an elaboration or extension, an illustration, etc. • The Discussion Book Stephen Brookfield & Stephen Preskill, 2015
QUESTION • What would you like students to say about the way you exercise your power & authority when they’re out of your earshot ?
Chalk Talk • Instructor writes a question in a circle in the center of the board. • Students gather at the board and write their responses to the question • Others draw lines to connect postings, or they add to postings that have already been made • Done silently & ends when board is full or postings cease • Debrief happens as the whole group looks for clusters of agreement & ignored outliers • The Discussion Book Stephen Brookfield & Stephen Brookfield, 2015
Teacher Disclosure • Complete the ‘I Am From” poem and post it to course LMS https: //scribblingtoday. com/2011/03/31/writing-exercise-i-am-from/ • Talk about the development of your own racial identity: • When you first became aware of race as a factor in your own life • How you’ve tried to communicate across racial differences & what that’s like • When you’ve witnessed racism & what you do/don’t do • When you’ve enacted racism & what you then do/don’t do • How white supremacy manifests itself in our life • Micro-aggressions you’ve committed • What you need to work on regarding race • Teaching Race: Helping Students Unmask & Challenge Racism 2018
Counterfeit Democracy – Students’ Perceptions • Fly on the Wall – ‘we watch your silence’ • Learning Journals – ‘confessional drama’ • Dignifying our experience via self-deprecation – ‘are you incompetent, needy? ’ • Circle as coercive manipulation & surveillance • Visiting small groups – ‘performing for power’ • Group reports – ‘judge of clarity’, ‘mindless applause • Constructing the curricula – ‘without grammar’? • Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher 2017 (2 nd Ed. )
Critiquing my claims • Teacher disclosure as modeling openness – arrogant, self-indulgence • Lack of genuine peer critique of your thinking, claims, position • To speak of democracy is hypocritical when you have the power to give grades • CIQ data is cooked to show you in a good light • You can work collegially but never be a ‘friend’
Stephen Brookfield Resources (Wiley Publishers) • Teaching Race: How to Help Students Unmask & Challenge Racism (2018) • The Discussion Book: 50 Great Ways to Get People Talking (2016) (w/Stephen Preskill) • The Skillful Teacher: On Trust, Technique & Responsiveness in the Classroom (2015, 3 rd Ed. ) • Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher (2017, 2 nd Ed. ) • www. stephenbrookfield. com
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