Teacher–Pupil Planning: A Sociological Point of View

• In Event: Teacher–Pupil Planning in Middle-Grades Schools: Research and Evaluation Methodologies for Examining the Intentions and Outcomes of This Process

Abstract

The “teacher-pupil planned instructional model” presumes a level of responsibility and cooperation among all members of the classroom, much like in a democratic social system wherein all members have the right and obligation to voice their concerns and contribute to the common enterprise. Such a type of social order requires a considerable degree of power sharing between teachers and students. This sort of system is a departure from the authoritarian system prevalent in most US American classrooms. Thus it follows that teachers and students in traditional classroom settings will need to get acquainted with and comfortable in a social order based on shared knowledge of what the learning and assessment process is all about and on shared responsibility for goal setting and assessment of progress toward those goals.

For the teacher-pupil planned instructional model to be successful, at least two types of changes must occur. One, teachers will need to develop a new understanding of their role and authority in the classroom. Two, students will need to develop a sense of agency as engaged knowledge seekers. This calls for consideration of the following:
1. What kinds of models of democratic social order are available for teachers to implement in their classrooms? This project will examine the Just Community model of democratic education for how it helps teachers to structure responsible learning communities. Among other factors, the dynamics of trust and confidence will be considered.
2. What implications does a democratic social order have for the behavioral, affective, and cognitive domains? What might teachers reasonably expect from the Just Community model?
3. What kind of authority would help teachers to function in their role as lead partners in a teacher-pupil planned instructional model? This project will look at ways in which teachers have power over their students and with their students, and at the ways in which teachers’ authority as subject/learning specialists will come into play.
4. In situations where students are from impoverished backgrounds, what kinds of behavioral and emotional challenges might a teacher expect? Factors such as racial discrimination, economic deprivation, and social exclusion will be considered in light of their effects on the students’ ability to engage constructively.
5. How do teachers establish productive teacher-student relationships in multi-cultural situations? This project will consider the lessons teachers can learn from Locke’s model for multicultural understanding. It will also draw on what research suggests are successful ways to teach African American children.

Selected References
Benne, Kenneth D. (1970) “Authority in Education.”
Ladson-Billings, Gloria (2009) The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children.
Locke, Don C. (1998) Increasing Multicultural Understanding: A Comprehensive Model, 2nd edition.
Power, F.C., Higgins, A., & Kohlberg, L. (1989). Lawrence Kohlberg's Approach to Moral Education. New York: Columbia University Press.

Power, F.C. Power & Power, AMR (2012). Moral education. In A. Higgins-D’Alessandro, M.W. Corrigan, & P.M. Brown (Eds.), The Handbook of Prosocial Education. Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield Publishing Group.

Author

• Annmarie R. Power, University of Notre Dame