Power and classroom
It is important to understand three ideas that add feed into the concept of the culture of power – hegemony, ideology and power. Hegemony is when one group’s ideology is imposed on to everyone in society. Ideology “refers to the stories myths, explanations, definitions and rationalizations that are used to justify inequality between the dominant and the minoritized groups.” (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017, p. 73) Then that means that power is when people have the ability to impose their “ideas and interests on everyone.” (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017, p. 73)
When professors teach, the information they share can at times come from a narrow scope with one point of view that is being transmitted as the ultimate truth.
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Pause to reflect
Please think from your own experience, what does power look like between teacher and student?
