Technolandy

Day 35 (of SOL 2025) Dear  @shanesafir & @sjeducate 4/10 “spoilers” of traumas in Pedagogy of Voice (power)

Dear Shane and Sawsan… in Pedagogies of Voice, you bring up “10 Toxins” carried in the form of signature practices and dscourses – here is a thought on:

4. Power over

Looks like:

• Teacher at the front, students in rows 
• Classroom rules with no student voice 
• Grading behavior for compliance

Sounds like:

• “You are speaking out of turn.” 
• “I gave you the grade you deserve … take it or leave it.” 
• “No, you can’t just use any bathroom/pronouns that you want to.”
• “This is my classroom, and you will follow the rules or leave.” 
• “You can’t join that program. You’re not Honors material.”
• “The bell doesn’t dismiss you… I dismiss you”

(Feels like – assessments, learning, grading, report cards et al are being done TO the learner rather than for/with…)

Students will ask “why” – they deserve better than “because I said so” – ideally good questions will lead to better questions and queries back & forth and throughout the community!

A lot of this power is unconscious and systemic – it was built on force… tradition… fear.. coercion… “rules” – as a toxin it strips students of voice and choice and hinders authentic engagement in their learning… But, student in rows facing the teacher giving only right answers has been the hall mark of schooling… right? That’s how we organize our staff meetings and pro-d sessions, right?? The absence of voice is what has students asking “do we need to know this for the test…” “just tell us what we need to know…” a shift to compliance pleasers (that froze my son when he had multiple answers but couldn’t sort which ‘one’ it was the teacher was wanting…

It’s the choice of text (still using Call of the Wild??) – not saying some classics don’t still warrant synthesis… but when kids don’t see themselves/their world in what they read… much like school, it doesn’t connect with them… and admittedly, many tropes – for example the misunderstandings within two gentlemen of verona – could’ve easily been solved if only the characters had a cell phone… likewise with most sit-coms…

It’s relying on recipe cards to get to the predicted end of the experiment rather than exploring why something did not happen as it should have (chem 11 experience – the teacher even watched me and my partner conduct the experiment… see it go wrong… and tell us to copy the next tables notes to complete the lab….) And how many of us spend way too much time on our favourite topic (have a great teacher who I would always tease when he broke out his ‘catalogue creation activity’ because it did not have any real-world relevance for the students – don’t even get me started on his “TV guide” that I finally convinced him to retire… I think…😇

Let’s spend time diving into the “why” we are doing this and – why is a math topic being explored and refined (even as one math guru once said – maybe it’s just because it’s a beautiful math pathway with limited real world experience…. Enjoy the process!) Deconstruct the process so that there is relevance and meaning and everyone knows why they are learning what/how/why/who they are!

Power with over Power over every time!