There have been many times in my life where I have encountered situations in which there was someone who had authority over me. Growing up in a great school district, I had many teachers that had authority over me. One that stands out in particular was my Varsity basketball coach and English teacher. The relationship we had was one based on respect, dedication, and hard work. He expected the best from me and because of his high expectations, I was able to produce quality work in the classroom and on the basketball court. I never felt that he abused his authority over me, but rather used it to motivate me to succeed. He knew that I respected him and his opinion, which made it easy for him to communicate with me as a student and a player. This relationship of coach-player was one that fostered my dedication and work ethic, because I was receiving feedback and advice from an authority figure that I trusted and respected. I do not think that authority figures can always have this kind of influence, because many figures of authority abuse their power, which creates a sense of animosity between the authority figure and their subordinate. My coach created a balance between his role as a coach and his role as a mentor. This created an extremely successful relationship that was based on a mutual respect. I feel that power can be handled differently from person to person, but I feel the way that my coach handled his power can relate to a business setting in the sense that power can be used as motivation, which can lead to increased output from the subordinate.
On this same team, I also had some power because I was named Captain of the basketball team my senior year of high school. This power was given to me by my coaches and surrounding teammates because they trusted my instincts and hoped that the other players would model their work ethic off of my own. From this source of power, I felt that I was motivated to achieve at a higher level in order to lead my team to a successful season. The team and my coaches counted on me to set a good example and work hard to bring our team to victory. I had some influence in the decisions being made for the team because my coaches valued my opinion. As previously mentioned, I had a great relationship with my coaches and we opened the lines of communication so that I knew they valued what I had to say. My opinion was considered when determining the skills that needed to be worked on, as well as our game time strategy. I reacted positively to the role I was placed in and believe that I thrived as a Captain. It is always nice to be given some power and feel that you have some impact on the outcome of a situation or in this game, the outcome of a game.
You write as if teachers in High School have power, merely by virtue of their position. Perhaps that was the case in your high school. But it is not necessarily true. There is a now classic movie called Blackboard Jungle where the power held between the students and teacher was uncertain, till near the end of the movie. BTW, I think that's probably still a good picture to view now. Sometimes it comes on one of the classics movie channels.
ReplyDeleteIn your role of captain you were treated with respect and it sounds from what you wrote that you put in effort to deserve that respect. You might ask whether power and respect are one and the same or not.
I feel as if teachers have power over students when it comes to a high school setting solely because we have been through the schooling system for so long up until that point. We know the consequences that come when you step out of line, or do something inappropriate in the school. Teachers automatically have power over students, because they are the ones who evaluate the students work, they are the people who punish students who step out of line, and they are also the people who are trained to teach students knowledge that will ultimately benefit them in the long run. Respect is not always a given when it comes to the student teacher relationship, but it can be earned. A hard working student can gain the respect of a teacher through the school system, and a teacher can earn the respect of a student by showing them useful knowledge and life lessons along the four year path of high school. I do not think respect and power are the same thing, but I do think respect feeds into power. A president can be elected, and at that point he/she is gaining power, but not necessarily respect. Respect must be earned.
ReplyDeletePower is an interesting word. I feel that it encompasses or can encompass certain things, maybe their cannot be power without respect, or fear, or something else. I think you touched on that subject in your own comment. I also think your version of power is quite along the lines of having authority, which is different. The definition of authority includes power but power can be a result of something else. I guess I have seen power in displayed in friendly ways such as athletics all the time and not just the juicy bad relationships, winner loser outcome. It just doesn't work as well with what the professor is going for.
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