It’s foundational!

Teacherly authority is an attribute of being human

I cannot emphasis enough that teacherly authority is a basic attribute of being human, to quote Zak Stein*:

“Teacherly authority is a deeply rooted aspect of what it means to be human. We have had structures, both formal and informal, of teacherly authority in play for as long as we have been human. In fact, as soon as we started putting them in play is when you could say, “Oh, okay, human.””

It is this attribute that allows us to focus the attention of the next generation onto what is important for cultural continuity, so they don’t have to create everything again from scratch but can build on what is already in place.

Once legitimate teacherly authority is in place then the student pays attention to the teacher and to wherever the teacher directs their attention.

What is different today is that our young people’s future will not be like the past.  Where teacherly authority in the past could be based on foundational literacies, these are no longer of primary concern to most young people.  In other words, the basis for teacherly authority going forward is in the capacities needed to face up to an uncertain future – it is these which are of primary concern.

Again, once legitimate teacherly authority is in place, the teacher can direct students’ attention to the foundational literacies, and they will willingly do their best work.

By rebuilding teacherly authority in this way students acquire both foundational literacies and the capacities they need to face the future – in other words, the full set of twenty-first century skills.

What is important is to recognise that it is both imperative and possible to rebuild teacherly authority in this way – a minority of teachers already do this very successfully.

Net outcome: rising levels of student engagement, learning outcomes and preparation for the future.

*Quoted in the Jim Rutt Show Episode 57 – Zak Stein on Education in a Time Between Worlds 1 June 2020 https://www.jimruttshow.com/2020/06/page/2/

John Corrigan is an expert in helping individuals to bring their whole of mind to their daily life and increase their effectiveness and the effectiveness of those around them. This expertise scales from the individual to the team to the organisation.  At the core of this work is the concept and practice of teacherly authority.  Earlier blogs can be found here.

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