On Pedagogical Manipulation

On Pedagogical Manipulation

This is one of those articles that caught my attention for mysterious reasons. I decided to put it aside and look for other articles of interest that I could see myself responding to, and while they were there, I came back. Maybe it’s the discussion of manipulation, or the idea that there are teachers out there who are introverted like me. That the writer had to “trick” himself into being more outgoing for the sake of a successful classroom. That, like I do all the time with my kids, you have to kinda manipulate the students too. It works! But it’s not easy. These are things I think about all the time.

He also speaks of the merits of intrinsic motivation but that it’s not necessarily something that happens right away. I’ve read some Alfie Kohn and he preaches with fervor against the carrot and stick method. I can’t help but agree with him, but I’m no student whisperer.  How do you do that? I’m not sure I have enough faith. I’ve been through enough crises of faith. I’ve lost my faith–but I’ve gained it back, too. And that in myself.

This faith thing–it’s pretty central here. Faith enough to walk into a classroom under-prepared. Faith enough to assign a book you’ve never read before. I’ve read similar edicts recently: “make sure you don’t ignore the lines of a poem you don’t understand. Learn it with your students.” There are few things scarier, but again it makes sense.

Consider this:

“I might, for example, sit cross-legged on the desk at the front of the room or take off my shoes while scrawling notes on the chalkboard, not to be comfortable but to convey something to my students about the need for making the classroom a comfortable space.”

This is how I see myself. I see myself sitting comfortably on a chair (one leg tucked beneath the other) while talking with the class. I see myself without shoes on. I see moon chairs and old, raggedy lazy boys and couches in the room to create a comfortable space for reading and group activities. I’ve never been one for formal wear, though I will when it’s necessary. Like before I’m tenured, ha!

I want to be willing to learn with them, to not be the expert (though that’s because I certainly do not feel like one–and that frightens me). I want us to be on a more equal level. I want to be the authority figure in the room, but not the dictator. I won’t be the asshole who won’t move on deadlines or refuses to listen to the student even if they’ve done this a million times before (easier said than done, eh?) because what about when these kids get a job, huh?! I refuse, right now, to believe that I’m there to ready these kids for “the real world.” That’s not my job as I see it.

This manipulation called for here also demands a teacher’s honesty if there is to be communication and a relationship. An investment that will have a return. It calls for welcoming the kind of critical thinking not necessarily taught or accepted anymore. It calls for an admittance, a vulnerability found in not always being the expert. I mean, besides not knowing everything about English or teaching, I grew up with the Internet, I’ve watched it expand–yes, but I don’t keep up with it to the extent that these kids will or do. They will have ideas. They will know more about me in some areas. I will need to trust them as I need them to trust me. There is a relationship to build. It’s the students’ classroom, too. They need to know that.

For introverted people like me, the digital world is often a far, far more comfortable place to negotiate and communicate. I can see how it would open up many doors for students and teachers alike. To remind us of the quote above, Jesse writes that the classroom ought to be a comfortable space, a place that embraces change, and further that “we should be reflective about how that change occurs.” In no other place does change occur so rapidly than in digital space.

That said, how do you take your shoes off and sit in a relaxed manner in front of the students, or even dress casually when they cannot see you (I guess I’m thinking of a MOOC, here)? A lot of that would have to be expressed through text and through other methods. It’s not impossible, and I’m sure it could be just as influential. There are always ways to chill.  There’s always a way to mess with the binary that is forever present that will invite students into a space where their motivation will be more apt to “mature” or “migrate” itself from extrinsic to intrinsic.

This is what I hope to do. All of it. I guess it was an inspirational kind of read. That’s reason enough, yes?