I, the Oppressor

I have come to the realization that the teacher is a paradoxical and oppressive force in the classroom. This might sound negative in some fashion, and its true in some ways. However, I feel this is an unintentional consequence of the position of teacher. A general assumption given to the positions of teacher and student is that the teacher has information, and that the students are either unfamiliar, or unversed with this information. Of course this is not all encompassing, and I’m not so pompous to believe that my students couldn’t be knowledgeable in the information that I teach prior to entering my classroom.

 According to Freir (2005) a method of freeing the oppressed (students in this context) from that of the oppressors (me as teacher), is for the oppressors to work in solidarity with the oppressed. To put this in the current context, I as the teacher have an assumed knowledge, which the students will need to know in order to pass the class, and for the most part, get their college degrees. The students must acquire enough of the information and be able to articulate it in a way that will allow them to pass the required course work, and get the necessary grades.

If I am the one who grades and determines whether or not the student passes, but also the one who is supposed to be assisting them in their acquisition and articulation of the knowledge necessary to pass, am I placing the students in an oppressive cycle through bad grades, knowing that I could be partially responsible for said grades? This is not to say that I wholly place the responsibility on myself. It is the requirement of the students to read and study the necessary materials. But, as I review the grade book, mulling over the particularities of assignments, I find myself conflicted as we near the end of the semester. Who will walk away victorious or in defeat? Is it my fault? Is that a bad thing?

Sources

Freire, P.  (1970/2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed:  30^th Anniversary Edition.  New York:  Continuum.