Apropos of a conversation on contract grading, which followed on the heels of a conversation about teaching with my partner, in which we concluded that I am basically a hippie, I really wonder why some teachers and professors are committed to the punitive model of education.

My partner’s theory is that some professors are deeply invested in being A Professor, i.e. the repository of knowledge to be professed to students. Mine is that it’s because this is what they experienced and thus allows them to feel safe and in control.

He asked, “If the world is punitive, then which approach to education best prepares students for that world?” (He’s been a K-8 educator for 20+ years and is also basically a hippie.)

I said that not taking a punitive pedagogical approach offers the possibility that our students will go into the world and build one that *isn’t* punitive - whether, like most of my students, they become teachers or pursue other careers.

Shockingly, this conversation started over mandatory Zoom cameras, and faculty saying they need to see the “aha!” moment on their students’ faces (was I supposed to be looking for this? Missed the memo while I was focused on measurable assessment.)

And I said the fiction of the “aha” moment is about the instructor’s own need for self-aggrandizement and nothing that *actually* had anything to do with assessing student learning.

But here’s the thing: even when we do everything we can to set up an ideal pedagogical situation, there will be students who, for reasons beyond our and their control, may not be well-positioned to learn right now. No amount of looking at them on camera is going to change that.

Taking a punitive approach to teaching isn’t going to guarantee everyone’s going to be able to learn what you want them to learn. More attempts to control the situation aren’t going to make it any better.

I know not everyone’s a total hippie willing to set up a scaffolded course with high expectations and just let go and trust students will put in what they can and we’ll make some good progress towards course objectives, but it’s really freeing.

And I say this as someone who teaches teaching methods courses for people getting their teaching licenses — the stakes are high. We’re talking about the next generation of teachers here.

But there’s 7 years worth of RoopsiTM English teachers out there on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Every one of my alums who wanted a middle or high school teaching career is employed and continues to grow as professionals.

They are well-prepared and they have seen experienced how this approach to pedagogy can work —that you can maintain very high expectations while *also* not being punitive or controlling.

This thread brought to you by the fact that I’m supervising a Master’s capstone on this very topic this fall — and really do believe that control isn’t the answer to learning, certainly not during a pandemic, but more broadly as well.

It’s worth mentioning I was the worst student ever til grad school - no one believes me, but true story. No amount of control & punishment changed that. The very different pedagogical style and validation of my own agency changed the game. So I try to give that to my students.