Conclusions & Implications
Who is asking the questions?
When the authority figure is leading the conversation, they are also fielding questions and guiding the discussion. I believe the person or people asking the majority of the questions in a conversation or talking are those who are most engaged and, therefore, learning. Thus, if the teacher does not centralize student voice through the asking of their questions, then students are not learning. The teacher is engaged in the learning because their voice of authority keeps them engaged in conversation; however, it creates no opportunities for students to answer and develop their own questions. The goal of a lesson should not be to get through all the material that the teacher prepared for the day; it should be to engage students' questions and develop the lesson in a direction that supports student needs and interests in the topic. As the authority figure, I must create opportunities for students not to be guests but rather active participants in our conversations. For this to take place, we need to strike a balance. I learned, while student teaching, that when the act of asking questions in a conversation is more evenly spread among all stakeholders, there is a higher level of engagement and buy-in from everyone in the classroom. For this to be achieved, there must be a shift in power dynamics. The role of authority, often kept by just the teacher, must be divided between everyone in the classroom. Students must feel a sense of agency and power as members of the classroom community to influence their learning experience by questioning and collaborating with each other and myself.
What is being taught?
As the teacher and an authority figure in the classroom, especially for younger grades, it is a major part of my job to teach students what it means, looks, and sounds like to be in school every day. I have to show them what is expected of them in school and, by extension, in the world outside of school presently. Teaching students how to be in the present world sets them up to change what it looks like to be a member of society in the future. However, there is also a negative side to instilling these norms in the classroom. In order for students to act the part, the teacher may fall into the trap of controlling student bodies to look the way the authority figure believes ‘being a student in school’ looks like. Teaching students that it is okay for the teacher to use their authority over the children to control their bodies - sit in pretzel fold, in one carpet spot, with hands in their lap, and voices off - gives the teacher’s authority far too much power. That is why the authority figure must allow students must step in and teach a new perspective on the current norms they are being taught. Their teaching will scrutinize how our classroom norms are not made fairly. When students are teaching, they are opening the door to what the norms of our world, country, state, city, or school could be. Through their new perspective, students are teaching the authority figures what will be valued when the students become the next generation of leaders. I, as the figure of present-day authority, must allow students to teach the underlying issues of our society to pave the way for how to be a person in our society in the future. Setting my authority to the side when students are teaching their perspective of information teaches me new ways to support their growth and understanding of our lessons and their worldly impact.
How does relationship building affect the presence of authority?
Just as easily as students assume that teachers are nothing more than what they see in the classroom, educators can lose sight of the whole human that lives within their students. If mere high fives open the door to a small level of shared humanity, then I can only imagine where even deeper learning partnerships can take us and our newly developing understandings of authority. Relationship-building breaks the barrier of authority, keeping our shared humanity from being utilized as a strength and tool in our classroom. However, for students to feel comfortable questioning the teacher, a foundation of trust in each other and the authority I hold to lead the class must be established first. Only when students are confident and can trust in the relationship we’ve built as a class can they feel welcome to question my authority. I also must routinely encourage students to question me to breed a classroom culture of self-efficacy. With their trust in our relationship, student’s self-efficacy can become more frequent and challenge me to step outside of my comfort zone with teaching. Thus, I can develop learning experiences that mutually benefit the students’ and my ongoing learning and evolution of understanding the authority figure’s role in the classroom.
As I look into the future…
Next year, with these newfound understandings in mind, I intend to make relationship-building a lens through which all my lessons and activities for students are created. During lessons, we will talk about what it means to be a respectful partner, how to use our words to express our feelings instead of actions, and team-building opportunities for students to see that working together is far more powerful than learning individually. That way, a community culture of trust and respect will be cultivated over time so that students may feel comfortable questioning each other and my authority. If that relationship foundation is already constructed, students will feel secure knowing that if an issue arises, we will work together to sort it out as a team. As my class will be kindergarten students next year, I will strive to remain conscious of students’ inquisitive nature and willingness to teach in the classroom. By staying aware of my students’ innate curiosities about the world around them, my focus will be to develop strategies that embed their interests in the curriculum as well as create consistent opportunities for students to voice their newly formed interests, opinions, questions, and curiosities. In doing so, I hope there will be more balance between my teaching and my student’s teaching than I saw in my classroom this year. As I grapple with the idea of being the only authority figure in the classroom next year, which I have never experienced before, I hope to be extremely sensitive to students signaling to me when norms or classroom practices are not created in a way that supports everyone. I must be able to pick up on their body language, interactions with their peers and myself, or strong emotions that may arise when the class transitions to a particular subject. Especially in those first two months of the school year when our relationship-building will still be in its early developmental stages. Therefore, students probably won’t feel as confident in their self-efficacy or ability to question me. It is my job to show them that I am present with them and care about their experience in the classroom. I encourage my students to question me because I believe it will often lead to the betterment of our classroom community, which I could’ve never imagined on my own!