Authority

Who's really in charge in the classroom is a age old question.  Who is running this show?  Is it me?  Am I actually in charge of the kids in my classroom?  Or, is it that I have allowed the students to be in charge?  This question isn't as black and white as I once thought.  I used to think that once you were a teacher you were in charge.  However, that is not really the case.  I also used to think that if you were the one in charge you were supposed to be loud and scream and yell until people did what you wanted them to do.  That's not even close to true.  So, who is in charge?  Who is the authority in school?

Some people are shouting at me that this is a no-brain-er.  But, I don't think it is.  How do you become and authority?  I think we first have to start by defining the word authority.  What does it really mean?

"The power to give orders or make decisions: the power or right to direct or control someone or something.  The confident quality of someone who knows a lot about something or who is respected or obeyed by other people.  A quality that makes something seem true or real."

~Webster's dictionary

Great...what does that mean?

"Power to give orders or make decisions."

Who decides what work gets done in your class?  Do you tell your students what to do, or do they tell you what they will and won't do?  Do you students decide for themselves what is important, or do you?

I think the ultimate answer to this is that there should be some shared responsibility in the classroom because the students are more likely to follow rules that they help to create.  I think our problem as teachers is that we make too many rules and decisions.  No one can keep up with them.  The kids can't keep up with them enough to follow them, and as a teacher too many rules, and you can't keep up with them to enforce the rules.  So, keep it simple.  More than 10 rules and its a lost cause.

Where did I get the number 10 from?  God.  He gave us 10 rules to follow.  He is our ultimate authority, so I pattern my classroom style of authority after his example.  He gave 10 rules, so I give 10.  I can't even begin to pretend that I know more about how to be in charge than God does, so why would I need more rules than He gave?  This whole being in charge thing is not easy.  It is a weighty job.  The Bible says so.

Hebrews 13:17 ESV "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you."  

As a teacher I'm keeping watch over the souls of the children that are in my class.  It is my job to teach them how to respect authority if no one has ever taken the time to show them that.  It is my job to teach them why authority does what they do.  I can't just yell at students because I want to.  I have to explain to them why we don't have our cell phones out while I'm teaching.  Notice I said WE.  I can't have mine out either.  That, my friends, is hypocrisy.  Yes, that takes a lot of time.  You bet, I don't always want to do it.  But, it must be done.  I am accountable for their souls.  I have been given a position of authority, and it is important.  I am important because these children's souls are important.  

So, who runs my classroom?  I do!  Because, I know if I don't, then some confident (arrogant) smart (sometimes smart mouthed) student will.  And then they will be dictating the status of that classroom full of souls.  But, I'm still the one that has been given the role of authority, so I'm still the one that is accountable for them.  That means, if I don't run my class, some one else will, and they might just run it in the ground and my children with it.  

But, the question presents itself... How do I get the last part of Hebrews 13:17 to work out?  How do I get control of my class without groaning every day about how they are behaving?

I believe I just found the next lesson I want to learn and then teach.  :)

Lessons Taught/Learned today:  Authority is a heavy job.  Take it seriously.