Power School

Questions about Power?

Who has power in a school? Do the kids have control? Do administrators have control over teachers and staff? How is power shared or horded in a school? The questions are not comfortable to ask. Is there a particular position that lends itself to power/sharing/manipulation? Who has the power to stop it from happening? Can individuals disconnect or reject power?

What is Power in a School Setting?

Power is typically viewed as being consolidated with administration and their ability to make decisions--hiring, firing, schedule making... However, dig a little bit deeper and in every school across America you will find people of influence, using power in ways that foster growth or retard learning and collaboration. The faces of people who are perceived as power hoarders and misuser probably come to mind. It is important to look in the mirror. Teachers and students give tremendous amount of control and power to people during the day--the ebb and flow of power shifts daily in classrooms and buildings. "I don't care, just make a decision." "I stayed up all night thinking about what 'you insert a name' said to me in that staff meeting." "I couldn't say no--my ideas don't matter anyway." We give up power by allowing others to dictate our thoughts, ideas, and social heath.

I am thinking about a time when a parent said to me, "Your classroom is a zoo at the end of the day. I am going to put together this system for you. All you need to do is keep track of it during the day, and I'll bring in candy for a reward." Gulp. Power was in flux. As a new teacher, I almost capitulated and allowed a parent to make an assessment about my class, provide a solution (in her mind), and dictate to me how to function. Was her idea bad? No. Was it noisy at the end of the day? Yes. Did I want to fight that battle? No. The morning was more important to me, so I spent my energies working toward a time that mattered more to me and ultimately student learning. A pastor friend gave me a fine piece of advice many years ago, "Jon, if someone has a good idea for you and you are not sure how to respond, sincerely say, 'I'll get back about that.'" So, The next day I sat down with the parent and told her that I appreciated her concern, but I was going to focus more on the morning time and at the end of the day, I'm more inclined to let kids talk and be kids. The parent exploded, "Fine then I'll just not say a word. I'll let you do all the talking and not even give any suggestions!" I was taken back by the response, "I like the fact that you care so much about your child and the class to offer suggestions. Don't stop helping and thinking of ways to make the class better, this idea is just not something I'm going to do right now."

Power in Practice

This parent ended up being one of my best and most reliable volunteers. The help was invaluable and provided me more time to work with kids. However, the flow of power needed to be checked. Could she dominate the classroom? Could I dominate the classroom? Could the students dominate the classroom? Was I the boss? Yes. Did I need all the power? No. I shared my power with her and the students. The situation had the potential to create sleepless nights--why am I doing some behavior plan, when it is not a big deal to me? It could have destroyed the respect I have for parents--they just want to control me and champion their own agendas. What helped me navigate this power struggle? Luck? Maybe. I hate being manipulated, but do I have the courage to appropriately confront it? Teachers typically have no problem dealing with students' power issues. Positional power makes confronting kids easy. But what about power problems with staff members or parents?

Power Eruptions—Mt. Saint Helens

Power is typically not on the agenda for staff meetings. Should staff talk about it? What if the meeting leader said, “Today we are going to talk about power. Raise your hand if you know of someone in the room who has misused their influence or power this week?” Anyone? The staff would uncomfortably shift their eyes from the floor, to the table, to the speaker. Power misuse is not talked about until the negative side of it surfaces.

Take Mt. Saint Helens as an example. I’ve lived in the Northwest most of my life and most people only talk about the last big eruption. People still build in the shadow of it, develop tracks of land in the flow zones, and go about life as if nothing could ever happen again. Power, manipulation, and influence are similar. Teaching staffs tell stories of past “eruptions”, but most of the time don't examine present relationships. We can’t vilify certain staff members for their actions. However, we can look at our “building site” and ask probing questions. How much power am I willing to give away? How will I deal with professional disagreements and challenges? What can I do to prevent myself from manipulating situations and people? Mt. Saint Helens will erupt again; luckily I live far enough away. But, I am faced with eruptions everyday in my school—am I prepared?

(Note: some of the examples are compilations of parents or staff members--no one person is represented in the anecdotes)

Dogma Campfires

What form(s) of school is best for kids? Should public schools continue to reform themselves? Should other systems be embraced? Free Skools, home schooling, unschooling...? I love this conversation; however it tends to end quickly and people of like minds end up sitting around their dogma campfires. The free skool folks vent about those nasty teachers and oppressive systems—everyone in the circle nods. The traditional school folks don't even know that other models are viable and complain about funding, unruly kids, and absent parents—they reach for another cup of coffee. Let's look for a 3rd or 4th alternative which may embrace or reject parts of both. As a teacher in the system, I feel like I can sit down at either campfire, strike up a conversation and find some theoretical or philosophical agreement. But I loath the dogma and group think. Granted it is human to befriend and/or communicate with people we agree with, but really—what about the kids. The conversion becomes so much about structure and rules the kids get left out.

Should I leave public school system because I disagree with it? I’ve wrestled with this idea a lot—especially as it relates to the Church. Do I leave a church because its public image and hierarchy is something I don’t want to be associated with? Aren’t the relationships worth something? In my case, I left a big church. The system is/was beyond saving (at least the kind of help I could offer).

So is my little public school worth saving? Should I leave it like the “c”hurch. The students need me to work for them. Not just be a good teacher, but advocate for their autonomy and brilliance. I look to people like Freire. He said it well in the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, “…the humanist revolutionary educator cannot wait for this possibility to materialize. From the outset, her efforts must coincide with those of the students to engage in critical thinking and the quest for mutual humanization. His efforts must be imbued with a profound trust in people and their creative power. To achieve this, they must be partners of the students in their relations with them.” I can’t wait to start something new or find something amazing happening in the world. It must start now at my little school. Who knows I may get expelled from my “country” as Freire was from Brazil—but not today. I think it takes everyone putting down their pitch forks and personal memories of school to envision what today might look like if we truly saw kids as people, creators, and teachers.