In the time that has elapsed since this incident, I have reflected on student-teacher power relationships. I am both a teacher and a student right now, so I am in the fortunate position of being able to see things from both sides of the desk, so to speak. As educators, we are knowledgeable and experienced, and thus may be of the opinion that "we know what is best." We may be so caught up in our desire to help that we ignore what it is that our students actually want to achieve.
This morning, I was tutoring a student at the Writing Centre. He brought an essay about a short story, and wanted help formatting his quotations. I read through the first page of the essay, and began asking him questions about his argument. I didn't feel there was much point in formatting quotations if they didn't support his argument very well. The student made it clear to me that all he wanted to get help with was formatting the quotations, but I resisted, because in my desire to be helpful, I wanted him to make other changes to his essay. He patiently explained to me that he did not have time to do this. He was a new student, very inexperienced with essay writing, and had already struggled a lot with this assignment. He knew that his essay wasn't perfect, but it would have to do, because he needed to give it to his typist this afternoon. I decided not to push the matter any further, and give him the help that he was looking for. I listened to him and realized that the course of action I wanted to pursue was just not feasible under the circumstances, and was going to cause him an undue amount of stress. Also, I wanted him to have a positive experience with the Writing Centre, so that he would trust us and keep coming to us for help. As we were working through the quotations, I felt that I was able to help him understand the writing process a bit better, so that the next time he sat down to write an essay, he might be able to link his quotations to his argument more effectively.
As educators, we need to be cautious about actions we undertake in order to "help" our students. Is something really helpful, when it is clearly not what the student wants? On the other hand, do we not have a responsibility to challenge our students, and push them into unfamiliar territory? I believe that we do, but if we proceed too recklessly, we risk damaging the relationship we have with the student, and thereby foregoing future opportunities to engage in the learning process. Also, if a teacher makes a decision on behalf of a student, he or she must determine if the benefits of that action outweigh the fact that the student's agency has just been compromised. In the situation I described with my instructor, I feel that a better course of action would have been for him to discuss the implications of my decision with me, state his point of view, but allow the final decision-making power to remain with me.
Relationships are key to the learning process. As teachers, we are faced with situations where our actions can either strengthen or damage the student-teacher relationship. These situations are complex, and often there is no easy solution. As I have learned over the course of this week, taking the time to establish a dialogue with the student, as well as an awareness of the power dynamics of the student-teacher relationship, can help teachers navigate these situations and ultimately have stronger relationships with their students.
