Inside a Failed Classroom Experiment
An unvarnished look at how fashionable teaching methods unravel when real people are involved.
Aftermath of Group One and a Brief Respite
As the course wore on, I began to relax, enjoying in particular, with our project now out of the way, my emancipation from Group One. I would have allowed the episode to pass if it hadn’t been for Group Five, who nimbly skipped the role-playing duties by summoning up the gall to dictate role-playing assignments to the rest of the groups. We mostly ignored that medicine, but I was perhaps the only one in the class who made it a further point of honor to quietly stay away from his respective group. The topic for the evening was, ironically, the non-authoritarian model expounded by Haim Ginott, the teacher and psychologist who believed in respecting autonomy by allowing reasonable choices for students. Group Five duly recited this concept, sounding as though they favored it by never once disputing it, even as their methods were obviously trashing it.
The Return of Authority and Social Coercion
Critical thinking beyond the rote-learned sort was apparently too outside the box for such a finely versed crowd as this. And then, moreover:
“Get over here, Paul,” the Group One queen bee coolly ordered when she noticed my unwillingness to return to her jurisdiction.
It was she who’d served as the brains behind the Behavior Mod theatrics. Her lofty social status had apparently given her a sense of entitlement to this high-handed conduct. The stud who had fallen out of his chair to such resounding effect was one of her chums.
Only to avoid a scene when faced with a weakly smiling reminder from the professor herself did I then submit to this latest impertinence.
The Risk of Questioning Authority
To question the expertise of a multiple award-winning professor is no easy matter, especially when letters of recommendation are hers to grant or withhold in the certification mill. But apprehension of more unpleasant surprises compelled me to venture, in the subsequent written assignment, a tactfully deferential plea explaining my dissatisfaction with role-playing as we knew it in her class.
A Polite Hearing and Strategic Evasion
She thanked me for my candor and then saw fit to conduct an out-of-class chat with me, this with a flourish of gracious listening manners and communication skills. I suppose, while proving quite adroit in the art of addressing as little as possible. “Bothered” though she was by the rigged behavior-modification proceedings, she avoided all cognition of the part that her own authority had played in the chain of events. And as for my dissatisfaction with an obviously disenfranchised role, she offered the facile non sequitur. “You’re being too hard on yourself,” and then went on to rationalize that I would be teaching my heart out some day when similar misconduct would suddenly erupt in the classroom.
An Alternative Vision for Role-Playing
Flummoxed by that smiling obfuscation of the issues, I decided to voice the obvious objections indirectly, this by way of a brief allusion to my previously submitted written conception of a worthy version of classroom-management role-playing. This would call for the leadership of a capable drama coach or two, under which there would be given equal opportunities for everyone to develop and thoroughly rehearse appropriate, poised responses to common class disruptions. (And not to be confused with a skit or a play, the skill rehearsal would guarantee a time-out option for any individual who felt the need for one.) Careful attention would be given to choice of words, tone of voice, body language, and facial expression. Video recordings would enable insightful reviews of mistakes and progress made throughout a follow-up series of quite a few sessions.
Resource Constraints and Deflection
“We don’t have the resources for that here,” the professor admitted complacently, possibly missing the point, apparently unabashed, though swiftly changing the subject and seeking to buy off my thoughts with a number of flattering remarks.
The kindly side of the wasteland. Our meeting soon played out with simpering niceties, our conversation merely following, as one might expect by now, the path of the professor’s own convenience.
Survival Mode and Final Appraisal
I remained in politic mode for the rest of the term, a courtly and cautious bull entrapped in a worse than useless China shop, even deigning to grant a carefully positive assessment on the course evaluation form. Having known how easily surmised the source of the written remarks would be, and having felt obliged to mitigate my critique in light of the lavish grades and praise conferred on me throughout the semester.
Smarm is a lousy bargain as compared with better courses wielding tougher grades.
