Deploying your Own Authority Differently
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At the second ask of "What should I be doing?" there is
less tolerance for ambiguity and more overt
expressions of participants’ desire for the authority
figure (in this case, Adriano) to provide protection,
order and direction.
The pressures on the system are articulated through
one participant in particular, who suggests that they
move on “for the sake of time” and that Adriano
provide “order."
Note that she seeks democracy (identifying top three
concerns), boundaries (time) and order (an agenda).
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QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION
- How much protection or caretaking do you give your students? What does that look like in action?
- How much order or structure do you provide your students? What does that look like in action?
- How much direction or guidance do you give your students? What does that look like in action?
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Naming the “here and now”- Checking Alternative Interpretations
| The work of the Case-in-Point educator is to support
the group by establishing clear reflective parameters.
One of those parameters is the distinction between
OBSERVATIONS and INTERPRETATIONS.
It is important as a Case-in-Point educator to model
the reflective principles by actively seeking more
than one interpretation for a set of observations or
opinions. This work might feel like pulling teeth
because groups are usually unaccustomed to making such distinctions.
As a result, interpretations are often communicated as facts. Here Jill is taking the opportunity to make the distinction clear and to establish a critical norm of group dialogue. |
QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION
- During group discussions, how do you model the ground rules that improve the effectiveness of group exchanges?
- How do you manage the flow of discussion when the class is rapidly polarizing into separate camps?
- Which strategies do you currently employ to bring everyone on the same page when you sense the presence of conflicting views?
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Exploring the Role of Authority: "Am I being of service to you?"
| In this clip, Adriano takes a step further on the
tightrope walk of expectations of authority. When he asks, “Am I being of service to you?” he gets mixed reactions and an overt expression of desire from some participants that he take over and show up in the ways they were anticipating.
Just three minutes into the session, participants are
asking for him to provide the protection, order and
the direction we expect from authority. |
QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION
- How do you assess the degree to which you are supporting participants' learning?
- What kind of feedback from students are you unwilling to hear? What is “off the table” for you?
- What would confronting expectations in the student/teacher relationship look like?
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Handling Disappointments from Authority
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When authority doesn’t behave as expected,
participants quickly express their disappointment and lose their sense of agency. To help the group, Adriano suggests they have important data—themselves.
What participants are thinking and feeling—if they can manage to surface and express it—has the potential to move the system forward and create a collaborative space for doing the work required in this situation.
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QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION
- What is your default reaction to disappointments from authority figures? Is that reaction somehow influencing the way you teach?
- What scars from authority figures are you still carrying with you as you deploy your own authority?
- What would it look like to deploy your authority differently in the service of collective learning?
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Verbalizing the Fear of Disappointment
| At just 15 minutes into the session, a participant sees
what is being surfaced and connects it to her own
struggles as an authority figure.
This is where Case-in-Point shines as a framework: Is
there another approach out there that plunges
participants into their own work at such a rapid pace? |
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QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION
- Which pressures are forcing you to "stay in place" as an authority figure?
- Imagine that–as an authority figure–you are disappointing people’s expectations: What terrible outcome might ensue?
- What is not true or highly unlikely about your answer to the previous question?
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