45:10 Fall, 2004: Semester 1
at Subway Academy One
- 45.10.1 Introduction
- 45.10.2 Prepare Hard, Teach Easy
- 45.10.3 My Classroom
- 45.10.4 One-on-One Contact
- 45.10.5 School Floor Plan
- 45.10.6 Graduation Oct 2004
- 45.10.7 Students
- 45.10.8 School Council
- 45.10.9 Teaching
- 45.10.10 Staff Macinations
- 45.10.11 "Protocols of the Elders of Subway Academy"
- 45.10.12 Autonomy vs. Heteronomy
- 45.10
45.10.1 Introduction
This section is one installment in a large thread on the subject of my teaching that runs throughout the chronicle. Click here to see a table which summarizes these threads.
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45.10.2 Prepare Hard, Teach Easy |
45.10.3 My Classroom
45.10.4 One-on-One Contact
45.10.5 School Floor Plan
45.10.6 Graduation Oct 2004
45.10.7 Students
45.10.8 School Council
45.10.9 Teaching
I would always like to use self-deprecation as a humourous technique in my speaking to a class --but I'm not very good at it.Like some Soviet era leader, I liked to be in front of a flower-laden rostrum.
45.10.10 Staff MacinationsI quickly realized that the other staff saw our relationships in master-slave terms. The whole thing became very Hegelian, as a power struggle dominated all other considerations. Rather than recognizing our interdependence, they wanted to impose their will, regardless of morality, rationality, efficiency, or what was best for the students and the school.In this feudal situation, much energy and time was wasted with internal squabbles. It came to resemble a chess game in which the art of war was paramount --more so than teaching and learning. While I did nothing aggressive, the other side appeared to actively seek out anything they perceived as vulnerability --hoping for a fatal blow. They pursued an aggressive agenda of interferance aimed at causing me to topple my king. This interferance included interupting my classes and did not stop short of undermining learning going on in my classroom. I was given instructions to simultaneously monitor the computer room, the front office, all the while teaching 14 courses. Their directions to me seemed to be: "Shut up and teach" ie. following all of their instructions to do Joe-jobs (heavy lifting) and leaving the running of the school to them without comment. Any constructive criticism was not welcome. Rather than being judged on the basis of the positive educational impact I made on my students, all that was important to them was the degree to which I was subservient to them. |
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45.10.11 "Protocols of the Elders of Subway Academy"
What I had not realized in the summer and fall, and had to learn in the early winter of 2004, was that everything was happening according to a grand overarching order. It was as if it was written down (as in "Protocols of the Elders of Subway Academy") and unchangable. This included the unspoken rules of Subway Academy:- (1) There are to be no changes at Subway Academy --this is an overarching rule which is more important than making improvements or responding to changing needs;
- (2) Everything that Achim did must be held in such high regard that to do anything differently is to disrespect his legacy (the expression "the way Achim did things" is to be repeated as a mantra dozens of times per day);
- (3) Any departure from the way Achim did things is to be opposed rigourously (for example, no acceptance of David's website);
- (4) Renata is the sole interpretor of "the way Achim did things";
- (5) Renata has an unrestricted right to change the way she interprets "the way Achim did things" even retroactively, including contradicting herself;
- (6) Any new teacher trying to replace Achim is to absolutely opposed at every instance (for example, David is to be interupted ever time, so that he can never finish a sentence --including during his classroom teaching);
- (7) The aspect of Renata retaining sole unrestricted power is an overarching priority --above the interests of the students, the school, the TDSB, and all other priorities (for example, the school budget is to be an absolute secret and spending money at the sole discretion of Renata);
45.10.12 Autonomy vs. Heteronomy
The kind of things discussed in some classes, and the institutional/personal power struggles amongst the staff, provoked me to think philosophically about autonomy and heteronomy. How much personal autonomy is appropriate for a young person? Should they be free to do whatever they want --come to class vs not come to class? To what extent should a teacher be free to teach as they wish vs. being controlled by institution?Autonomy in the extreme is a state of being in which one's actions are self-motivated, self-driven. Heteronomy, in the extreme is a state of being in which all of one's actions are driven by society's rules. (see Kantian metaphysics). There are both good and bad aspects to both, as summarized below:
| . | Autonomous | Heteronomous |
| Good | self-actualization, self-direction is good | all disciplines (evens art) have rules of craft, yet still allow creativity |
| Bad | it is bad when irresponsible people interpret autonomy as "doing whatever one wants" | it is bad when institutional rules become oppressive |
