Power and Privilege

I'm a mid-career teacher and truth be told, at 26 years in the field, I'm closer to being finished than I am to my start. At the start of my career, I planned to teach for a few years and then pursue a law degree. I wasn't gung-ho on being a lawyer, but I figured that's what I was supposed to do with the degree from the college I went to.

As a young teacher who knew nothing about teaching, I immediately assumed power. I seized the means of control. It's what a teacher was supposed to do, right? I gave permission for when students could stand and sit, speak and stay silent, and even when they could use the bathroom. Without a second thought, I grabbed this mantle of power.

I found I loved teaching- maybe I loved the power trip!- Nah, being more generous with myself, I stayed in teaching because I loved the kids. I loved coaching and I loved teaching history. Notice by the way, I didn't say I loved teaching students history. I was a lecturer. I learned a ton about history and I have no clue if my students really learned anything. Also in my first couple of years, I didn't have the best "control" over my students which caused me to seize the power ever more tightly.

Committed to giving this teaching thing a real shot, I went to graduate school. There I read Freire, bell hooks,  Nell Noddings and Vigotsky. It became apparent to me that my teaching was reinforcing all sorts of societal norms which I was opposed to in my own life. hooks called this the "banking system of education" based on the belief that recalling information and "regurgitating it represented gaining knowledge that could be deposited, stored and used at a later date."

Teachers, many whom are good progressives, keenly aware of the hidden and not so hidden structures of power in our world  - who consistently point these systems out when teaching literature and history! - reinforce these same systems of privilege and power in their teaching. They'd chafe at this assertion, but it is true. We reinforce the dominant paradigm even while we claim to oppose it. I've come across some Birkenstock wearing, vegan, natural fiber wearing, queer teachers who are profoundly traditional in their teaching approach. Is Freire wrong in his claim that the teacher as single authority needs to be re-adjusted if we want to create advocates for social justice? I think it is essential.

I teach a lot of rich kids who have or will have access to power. I feel my actions and methods will be more important than my words in creating people who will advocate for social and economic justice.