The winds of change are blowing over the Middle East. After thirty years of constantly looking over their shoulders, young Egyptians have used social networking and nonviolent demonstration tactics to cause the downfall of an authoritarian dictator. They want a say in the determination of their nation’s future. The uprisings in Libya should strike fear in the hearts of other regional autocrats even as Qaddafi tries to appear sanguine. “Democracy” and “freedom” are contagious “viral ideas” that can only be contained by isolation from the Internet and by force. But a populace can be controlled by fear only as long as force or the threat of force is present. The minute these punishers are made impotent, the suppressed behavior (both good and bad) erupts.
Authoritarian rule doesn’t only exist in state dictatorships. It is present in some school districts and classrooms. Teachers toe the line for fear of losing their jobs. Students attend school to avoid the consequences of not coming. For those who play by the rules, some goals may be accomplished. If nothing else, this system is perceived of as being efficient and orderly. And for the people at the top, they have the power to impose their will on others. Heady stuff. But there are way too many negative side effects. Authoritarian rule fosters conformity instead of creativity. It erodes trust between people and discourages collaborative partnerships. Instead of creating positive feelings about learning with students, school becomes onerous — a place to escape from. It is not empowering. It shows little respect for individuality and humanity. Energy that could be used for good is diverted toward constant enforcement. And yet it persists in far too many educational settings. “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” Why is that notion so entrenched in our society?
Perhaps it has to do with the institutions we’ve inherited. The military has a chain of command and an authoritarian structure — many corporations are modeled on it. School organizations have often followed a business model. Excuse me for saying this, but these institutions are from a very masculine culture. In her groundbreaking book, You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, Deborah Tannen states that, by and large, when men speak they are being competitive — creating status for themselves. It’s a zero-sum game, “I’m up, and you’re down.” When women speak they try to create community and understanding. They share information to empathize and empower. In the woman’s culture, authority comes from the quality of the wisdom she imparts, not from her hierarchical position. And it can be delivered with humor, pathos, compassion; not just from a sterile, dispassionate point of view. (Think of how awkwardly astronauts spoke when they tried to express their feelings about walking on the moon.) Women’s culture is more democratic, more human.
Before the woman’s movement, teaching was the chosen profession for bright, educated women. They had autonomy in their own classrooms and brought their considerable creative energies to their students. If you doubt their influence, ask today’s high achievers to name their favorite teacher; they were memorable! Such teachers would not survive today in an authoritarian environment that prescribed what and how they were to teach. One prominent educator once told me that the woman’s movement ruined education because it created a “brain drain” as bright women chose more lucrative professions instead of teaching.
I’m not a public policy expert but it seems to me that the decrees from on high, from Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” to Obama’s “Race to the Top” have severely damaged what goes on in classrooms. Administrators have become autocrats as they search for rules that will guarantee their schools a high performance on the assessment tests. Teachers are teaching from fear. Can you see how this erodes our stated values of freedom and democracy in our educational systems? What do all those skill and drill test-preparation lessons teach our kids about learning and life? Expect life to be dull and restrictive? How can we produce creative problem solvers if creativity and problem solving are not present in the classroom? The most powerful gift of a great teacher is her humanity — how she connects with and inspires her students. Formulaic, authoritarian rule sucks the joy out of education. This much I can state with certainty: The young Egyptians and Libyans who rebel did not learn how in school.
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