Classroom
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by JVS
The Five Forms of Teacher
Power
One mostly implicit element of the classroom reality is the
way that power is manifested in any class. Feeling some degree of power is a
basic human need. As we will discuss in more detail in chapter 9, if the
students’ individual or collective need for power is not met, they will
exercise it in one form or another. The teacher too has a basic need for power
as a human being, and they are no less inclined to react if they are not
experiencing healthy means to feeling control over their destiny.
However, due to the fact that the teacher is in the role of
the manager of the class they require power in another form, the power to
influence student behavior. This could be termed “teacher power.” Teacher power
is, in a sense, “the right to ask others to do something.” As teachers we need
to ask students to do many things in a day, and we need to make our requests
out of some basis of power. Without it,
we would have little efficacy. French and Raven (1959 & 1974), as they
examined classroom interactions, identified five basic forms of teacher power.
Each needs to operate to some degree, but some will be emphasized and utilized
more than others for most of us. These 5
types of power are Attractive/Referent, Expert, Reward, Coercive and
Position/Legitimate.
When the teacher relies on their personability, relationship
building, or the fact that they share common interests with students, they
could be said to be using attractive
power. Attractive power can be developed through getting to know and
emotionally investing in students. In a sense, when the teacher makes deposits
in what Covey (1995) calls the “emotional bank account” of the students, they
can use their withdrawals as opportunities to influence behavior. Attractive
power can also come as a result of the teacher having a personality that is
perceived by the students as pleasing, such as being likeable, funny or
charming. It is natural, as well as strongly encouraged by our media-driven
culture, for students to want to follow and respect those that have qualities
that are judged to be “cool.” We could imply that teachers to varying degrees
have the ability to cash in these qualities that could be termed “personality
capital.”
The use of attractive power to influence student behavior
can be both effective as well as healthy. It is difficult to be effective
without some degree of it. As the saying goes “students do not care how much
you know, until the know how much you care.” Students
work harder for teachers they like and perceive as caring. However, pandering
for student approval, and letting the need to be liked drive one’s teaching
choices, will lead to many problems. If the teacher confuses relationship
building for an implicit bargain with the students that, “I will be nice to
you, if you are nice to me,” then this can be a slippery slop that leads to
giving away one’s power and being taken advantage of.
When the teacher is perceived as being knowledgeable
in the subject, well prepared, and intelligent, they posses what could be
called expert power. We have
all had teachers who did very little to invest in the affective quality of the
class, yet were well respected and able to manage the class to a great degree
due to the fact that students felt there was a great deal of value in what
these teachers had to say. Expert power is driven by the students desire to
know. Some of this form of power comes from a natural human deference for those
who are perceived as wise, or posses what could be called “intellectual
capital.”
The use of expert power to lead can be effective. It can
translate into respect, if the teacher is not arrogant or entirely imperceptive
of the needs of his or her students. Humor can be a great asset for the teacher
who chooses to rely heavily on this form of power. But to exclusively trust expert power as
being sufficient has been the downfall of a countless number of teachers. Many
teachers enter the profession with a passion for their subject, and leave one
year later, when their passion is met by a disappointingly high degree of
disinterest and disrespect.
Teachers have the ability to reward their students in many
forms. Those rewards are usually employed to influence student behavior. This
form of influence could be termed reward
power. In chapter 9, various forms of what could be considered “rewards”
are discussed. They include grades, recognition, prizes, praise, privileges and
anything else that could be assumed that students desire that could be given to
them externally by the teacher. The
notion of rewarding student behavior is for the most part a good idea. But as
we will discuss in chapters 8 and 9, there are vastly different effects from
different kinds of rewards. Moreover, the power of any form of reward will be
directly related to how desirable it is to any particular student.
Earlier in the chapter we discussed the need for the teacher
to maintain the social frame relationship between student success and the
corresponding teacher reward. This implicit relationship is important to assure
that students feel valued and competent. But over time it may be desirable for
the teacher to help foster intrinsic sources of motivation within the student,
rather than developing an expectation that the only way that the student will
know if they are successful is if the teacher provides an extrinsic source of
reward. In its most healthy form, reward power is experienced as a deep
affirmation and a willingness on the part of the teacher to recognize student
effort. In its least healthy form, it is a tangible or emotional token economy
(see chapter 9 discussion related to extrinsic rewards and the use of praise).
In this application student behavior is conditioned by a systematic use of
extrinsic rewards, and/or the giving of love. It does have the effect of
modifying behavior, yet essentially creates reward and praise addicts whose
work is primarily undertaken to obtain the reward rather than for the sake of
learning or growth.
The teacher has in their power the right to use
disincentives, say “No,” withhold privileges, and give
consequences or punishments to students. When they do this we could say that
they are exercising their coercive power.
Coercive power implies that if a line is crossed something will happen that
will be less desirable for the student than if they choose not to cross the
line. No matter how much of the other forms of power a teacher possesses,
without coercive power, some students will take advantage of their freedom to cross
lines without concern for penalties.
Used constructively, this form of power is important to draw
lines and boundaries. It helps promote a sense of security in the class for
those students who are not inclined to cross lines, and count on the teacher to
discipline those who are so inclined. Used zealously (and in its traditional
form) it can bring a hostile energy to the class. In chapter 6 related to the
4-style manager, we will discuss the term pain-based logic. In essence,
exercising a pain-based logic is intended to produce power by coercion. Shame, punishments, guilt, humiliation, personal attacks,
withdrawal of affection are all forms of pain giving. As you examine the
4-style or “dominator” management orientation, you will better understand why
the misuse of coercive has so much potential for damage on so many levels.
By virtue of the fact that the teacher is in the position of
“the teacher,” they have power. The governance of the school places each
teacher in a position of responsibility for the management of the students in
the class. So, in one sense, it is not so much earned as, it just is. Likewise
the role of teacher assumes that they have power. There is no other person in
the classroom that can fulfill the duties of the teacher. We could use the term
“in loco parentis” (i.e., in the role of the parent) to describe this
type of power. The teacher, in addition to their role as educator, is the
sanctioned authority in the room.
One the one hand, unlike the other forms of teacher power, position power is not so much earned or
cultivated, it exists by default. On the other hand, we can do a better or
worse job of projecting that we deserve this role. This is especially true of
new and substitute teachers. Those who expect to be given respect,
usually are. Position power may come essentially from a contract, but it is
also projected in an air of legitimacy and confidence. Those who project an
affect characterized by illegitimacy or a doubt that they belong in the position,
will suffer from a limited amount of position power, and the problems that come
with it.
To be effective one must incorporate at least some amount of
each of these five types of power, however, each
teacher must thoughtfully consider the use of each of them within their goals
and personality. Each form will produce different effects on the socially
constructed classroom reality and lead to different sorts of results with
students. For the most part, they are not mutually exclusive. One could utilize
a higher or lower degree of any or all of them simultaneously. But as noted in
our discussion of each form, it may be more the case that effectiveness will be
less related to which forms or power are employed than the manner in which each
is employed.