EDUC 6123 – Unit 6, Discussion 6.1 – Why do people resist learning about power?

Consider your reading as you discuss why people resist learning about power. How might we, as educators, use RI to help them overcome this resistance?

I spent 45 years working for employers using command and control philosophy. Everyone was afraid. Afraid to lose their jobs, position, promotion, respect, and more. “Learning to see the structures within which we operate begins a process of freeing ourselves from previously unseen forces and ultimately mastering the ability to work with them and change them” (Senge, 1990).

            I was constantly asked, “who’s in charge here?” In many cases, I had the expertise and position that automatically conferred power on me. I heard the expression many times from RCMP managers, “The mounted police is not a democracy.”  As adult educators, the goal is to share power and control. I never looked at it that way. As an authority figure – whether policing or in the classroom – I had the advantage and took responsibility – what was done, how it was done, and how it was evaluated. I controlled who spoke, when and by whom. This control implied that if my goal were to encourage deep approaches to learning and behaviour, this model would be no longer appropriate.

            When attending the Justice Institutes Bylaw I and II classes, I kept saying, “I’m paying good money for this, so please teach me something!” I was trapped in an authoritarian-based transmission of information, skills, and attitudinal sets (Brookfield, 1986, p. 296). I felt disempowered and endlessly frustrated. I do not think the Justice institute was the least bit interested in the power relations in the classroom and how they played a role in promoting inequalities and disenabling learners while promoting reflection and action on what is right and just (Reimer et al., 2009).

            I am enjoying researching on looking at sociocultural forms of power and privilege. These are topics I want to learn more about. One such topic is intersectionality. It is a research framework that investigates and interprets things like sexuality, gender, race/ethnicity, and class and how they are shaped by power and freedom like sexism, racism, and classism while affecting people, individuals, collective identities, and experiences (Hankivsky, 2012). Researchers are increasingly applying intersectionality to the investigation of problems and inequities to capture the breadth of individual’s and population’s experiences.

            From a law enforcement perspective, for people to overcome resistance to any change, they need education, socialization, and enforcement. A simple example is mandatory government seatbelt legislation. Educated promoting the ‘why’ of using seatbelts, socialization where people know wearing seatbelts is a good idea and saves lives, and enforcement for the few who will not adhere—a long way from command and control.

Laurie

References

Brookfield, S.D. (1986). Understanding and facilitating adult learning. Jossey-Bass.

Hankivsky, O. (2012). Women’s health, men’s health, and gender and health: Implications of       intersectionality. Social Science and Medicine, 74(11), 1712-1720.    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953612000408?via%3Dihub

Reimer, S., Varcoe, S., Browne, A.J., Lynam, M.J., Khan, K.B., & McDonald, H. (2009). Critical inquiry and knowledge translation: Exploring compatibilities and tensions. Nursing Philosophy, 10(3),            152-166. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19527437/

Senge, P.M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Doubleday.