I dislike confrontation and will do anything possible to avoid it. I believe most power struggles could be head off before they even begin. As a teacher, I think is it important to learn strategies that will avoid confrontation in the first place. Adopting a proactive versus reactive approach to classroom management will help fend off most power struggles. I believe as a teacher I must commit to developing positive relationships with each student, especially those students who may become the source of a power struggle. Getting to know these students, having conversations with them, showing interest in their activities outside of the school setting and spending quality time with them will show that I sincerely care about them. It will help build a relationship that they will not challenge. After all, everyone wants to be cared for, including the teacher! Bennet &Smilanich state that in order to increase chances of effectively preventing and responding to power struggles, teachers need to attend to students’ four needs; belonging, power, freedom and fun (page 59).
This was evident for me during my short practicum. I was teaching grade 7 and some of the students were challenging me every chance they could. I made a commitment to spend time getting to know each student. This would happen randomly throughout the day. I would ask questions when they were in small groups (when they were with their peers with whom they were comfortable) or would take advantage of one-on-one opportunities when they came available. I would intuitively read the students’ level of comfort and let them guide the way. Some students took longer to get to know than others due to the differences in personalities and learning styles. I even shared some of my own interests outside of school to allow the students to view me as a person with many facets rather than just as a teacher. I found that this built trust in the student-teacher relationship and the students were more likely to give me the respect that I wanted if they received the respect that they wanted in return.
I believe another strategy is to empower those students who are at the centre of power struggles. It seems contradictory... to give power when all you want to do is take it away...but by making make these students leaders in the classroom they will have the sense of power they desire while still maintaining control of the class. Also, if a teacher is not consistent and fair in their discipline, then students will be more likely to continue to act out, especially if the students think there is favouritism involved.
When a power struggle does ensue, as did with three boys one morning during my short practicum, consistency and being fair as an authority figure has already developed trust in the relationship making it easier to diffuse the power. By not reacting to the attention seeking from these three boys, and checking my body language and tone of voice as I continued teaching, I was able to head off the power struggle. I made a point of speaking with each boy one-on-one during break. I explained to them how much I appreciated them and the ideas they bring to class before I went on to explain that their speaking out in class made it difficult for me to teach, and how it made me feel frustrated. Later that afternoon, I allowed these three boys to work in a group together (which either could have been a disaster or might just work!). They were the most engaged students in the lesson. I showed them that I trusted them and they in turn showed me that they could be trusted. I was able to diffuse the power struggle by giving power (or empowering) the students.
“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.”
Epictetus
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