Sharing Power in the Classroom
My colleague, Dr. Anne Mitchell, and I developed a course called "Critical Pedagogy for Feminist and Anti-Racist Leadership" that we have team-taught twice (summer of 2012 and 2013) as an intensive (2-week) graduate/undergraduate workshop.
On the first day of the workshop we develop a learning contract in which students and instructors work together to create grading criteria for the course assessments, finalize the readings of the syllabus, and negotiate course outcomes and expectations. This activity requires active student engagement and will demonstrates shared authority in the classroom. It is also, consistently, the most difficult assignment for students! Most students are not used to having authority of grading criteria and course expectations, but all report higher levels of investment when authority is shared.
My colleague, Dr. Anne Mitchell, and I developed a course called "Critical Pedagogy for Feminist and Anti-Racist Leadership" that we have team-taught twice (summer of 2012 and 2013) as an intensive (2-week) graduate/undergraduate workshop.
On the first day of the workshop we develop a learning contract in which students and instructors work together to create grading criteria for the course assessments, finalize the readings of the syllabus, and negotiate course outcomes and expectations. This activity requires active student engagement and will demonstrates shared authority in the classroom. It is also, consistently, the most difficult assignment for students! Most students are not used to having authority of grading criteria and course expectations, but all report higher levels of investment when authority is shared.
Power sharing is also demonstrated by Anne and I as we team teach. To demonstrate feminist collaboration, we frequently discuss pedagogical decisions in "real-time" in front of the students, negotiating and compromising along the way. In our evaluations, many students mention that our dynamic was one of the strengths of the course. By modeling academic collaboration, the course meta-teaches power sharing and the importance of disrupting authority in the classroom.