Power

Not for the first time, but today we had a conversation in class about the power struggle that takes place between teachers and student within the classroom.  We grow up in a society where age = knowledge = power.  In my opinion, this isn't an accurate image.  Yes, age = experience = some knowledge, however, this does not mean that we are above our students.  Everyday I learn something new, and often on those days this comes from the 3,4,5,&6 yr olds that I spend my days with.  What is the automatic defense when someone tries to hold authority over you? Find a way to gain that power. So here I am, a teacher with a class of 25 students, and I need to establish my authority as the facilitator while providing an environment where my students aren't fighting me.  How do I do this?  It's really simple actually...share the power.  This is scary as a teacher, right?  2 years ago I would have said the same thing. Having recently been a student in high school and currently a student in college, the best teachers that I have had in my 15 years of school are the ones that treated me as an equal.  Now, through practicum and work in schools, I have observed both power over the student and power for the student.  I can tell you first hand that power for the student makes an extremely drastically change in the classroom environment overall.  Now, as I stated in my first post, I'm not a teacher yet, so I can only speak based off of what I have seen and what I have read, I won't know everything until I've spent 40 years teaching and can accurately speak on what I have done.  Based on my research, this is what I have collected as being the most important factors to avoid a power struggle:

1. Communication
2. Respect
3. Guidelines
4. Freedom

Communication - You need to teach your students to speak and express their feelings.  I can guarantee they won't if they feel as if you are unapproachable however.  Establish that you aren't perfect and you are going to make mistakes and your students learning and comfort is your number one priority.  Allow them to provide feedback to you the same way you expect them to recieve your feedback and always be open to listen before you respond.  They are tiny humans with BIG feelings, be sensitive to that.

Respect - It's the golden rule! How can we expect respect from our students if we don't give them the respect they deserve!

Guidelines - As a child, we need to have guidelines.  The one thing we have over our students is experience.  This does not make us better than them, this just gives us an advantage to help guide them in the right direction.  Students like structure, when given in the proper manner.  This can only be done by trial and error.  I'm still experimenting with how to set these up in an inclusive and helpful manner rather than demanding and scary.  I have seen teachers establish their guidelines with their students at the beginning of the year and I've seen teachers set one guideline of "Don't do anything that interferes with your learning of the learning of others." And dealing with situations as they emerge.  At this point, I will only know what is most effective by trying them in my own classroom and seeing what works best!  What have you noticed about guidelines?

Freedom - This is a hard concept for teachers, I have noticed.  I have studied under a very progressive professor and my eyes have been opened.  Students should guide their own learning! They are all interested in different things and they all learn in different ways.  If you are teaching a lesson and a student prefers to sit on the floor with a clipboard rather than at a desk, why don't you just let them sit on the damn floor?! Who is it hurting? What is going to happen is if you restrict your students, they WILL act out.  Or hate school.  Or both.  Which is the better option?

Now, as I've said, these are my opinions and this is only based on my observations and readings, I don't know everything, and I am more than willing to admit that.  These are my experiences that I am hoping to learn from.  Please feel free to leave your feedback, opinions or questions in the comment section, I welcome discussion! Happy Monday!