Generational Connections: Examining the Interplay of Rapport and Authority in Becoming a Teacher Educator

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: Power, Empowerment, and Authority in Teacher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this self-study was to examine an internal conflict I was feeling about my credibility to teach preservice elementary teachers when I was similar in age to my students and had no K-12 teaching experience. Having taught only as an undergraduate science teaching assistant, I was now assigned in my doctoral program to be an early field experience instructor. Using Relational Cultural Theory and the Deliberate Relationship framework, I analyzed for the role of rapport in relation to authority and credibility with students. Findings show that having rapport with students is a valuable in supporting authority and credibility as an instructor, but only when boundaries to that rapport are successfully maintained. 

Authors

• Andrea Phillips, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Meredith A. Park Rogers, Indiana University - Bloomington