By: Thomas M. Philip, Ph.D., Professor, University of California Berkeley
Consider the multitude of decisions a teacher makes every day: choosing whether to stick with their instructional plan or follow a pedagogical opportunity that emerged organically; weighing which student to call on; determining which ideas from a small group discussion to bring to the whole class; making split second decisions to address, disregard, or redirect a student’s behavior; and, by most accounts at least another 1,500 decisions in a typical day (Berliner, 1984).
In my classroom-based research over the years, the political and ethical dimensions of teachers’ micro-decisions have become ever more apparent. Often, we look back at events in a classroom and take a summative stance, evaluating the episode as positive or negative. What often gets lost is that each such episode is in fact a culmination of numerous previous interactions, all of which entail political and ethical choices that could have led to different outcomes.
One case that strikes me as emblematic of this phenomenon is from a data science lesson I observed in an introductory high school computer science class. The class was composed mostly of Latinx, African American, and Asian American students and the teacher was a Latino male. (A detailed account of this case is available in Philip, Olivares-Pasillas, and Rocha, 2019). During the lesson we observed, the teacher presented a data visualization of movie rental patterns (see figure below). The teacher pointed out that the movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, was not popular in Compton and South LA, regions of the greater Los Angeles area that were historically Black. Immediately after, one student shouted out “ghetto.” The teacher did not directly address the student’s comment. From there unfurled a series of actions and inactions by the students and teacher, ultimately resulting in two highly engaged African American students feeling exasperated with, and isolated from, the rest of the class. Viewing this episode in retrospect, it became clear how the accrual of many small decisions led to the final outcome. Unintentionally, through a series of interactions, the teacher and students practiced and learned problematic ways of engaging in racial discussions that ultimately reproduced anti-Blackness.
The words “political” and “ethical” have many connotations, so it is important to establish some common understandings. Moments of teaching are political in that these seemingly trivial decisions either reproduce, challenge, or transform systems of power–it is the multitude of these everyday interactions that, in the end, create the complex systems of in/equities and in/justices that we observe. In turn, the complex systems of in/equities and in/justices shape the micro-level decisions we all make. Similarly, moments of teaching are ethical in that they consist of everyday interactions–often mundane and ordinary–that entail profound questions of what is right and wrong. Transforming classrooms to equitable, just, and democratic places of learning invites educators to consider each moment in the classroom as political and ethical (see Philip, 2019). Each moment is a micro-interaction that has the potential to reproduce, challenge, or transform inequitable and unjust patterns as well as an opportunity to create new possibilities.
The moment that the teacher heard “ghetto” presented him with multiple pathways forward, each with the potential for the classroom to go in a different direction. Since any action by a teacher always depends on what follows for it to fully gain meaning, there are no guarantees about the class’s trajectory. But, each action has the kernel for more likely possibilities. The teacher’s decision to ignore the comment seemed to have emboldened students to continue with racist, anti-Black sentiments throughout the class period. The teacher could have made clear that such disparaging comments were not allowed in his class. Or, the teacher could have paused and asked why the student shouted out the word “ghetto,” opening up a conversation about the impact such a term might have on the classroom community. There are no predetermined rules or decisions that will always be right. Context matters! Even ignoring a comment might have strategic value if the teacher assesses that it is important to move on in the moment, but then proceeds to have a conversation with the student and the class at a later, more opportune time. But, in this space of multiple possibilities, it is crucial that a teacher exercises their political and ethical judgment.
The decisions that impacted this classroom had started well before the teacher even began the lesson. The unit was designed by a group of data scientists, who were all White and middle class and had little experience with K-12 schools, let alone schools that mostly enrolled low-income students of color. The design of the lesson was imbued with (faulty) assumptions about how students would engage with the data visualization, that students would dispassionately observe that movie rentals could, in some instances, code for racial demographics. Once this lesson, with certain proclivities built into it, entered the classroom, the teacher then had to make a series of crucial decisions: how to introduce the lesson, whether or not to acknowledge the student who called out “ghetto,” whether and how he would take up the two African American students’ data-based arguments about racial solidarity, or how to handle his own discomfort with talking about race and his attempts to use race neutral language.
Panning out further, this student calling out “ghetto,” imbued with anti-Black sentiments, needs to be understood within the accumulation of decisions in the classroom over time that allowed for its emergence. What were the many choices that were made from the very first day of class–from seating arrangements to opportunities for students to be in dialogue with each other, to how previous incidents of disrespectful speech or put downs were handled by the classroom community–that ultimately let a student feel it was acceptable, or at least inconsequential for them, to use racist language?
As a contrasting case, I vividly remember visiting a high school biology classroom that was considering the ecological, economic, and social tradeoffs of logging. Students were genuinely engaged with each other’s ideas. They grounded their arguments in methods and concepts from biology, the concerns of interested parties (e.g., environmentalists, loggers, tourists, residents, etc.) that they had learned about, and their own lived experiences. Often, when we see such stellar classrooms, we are inclined to attribute it to a uniquely gifted teacher, exceptionally motivated students, or the particularity of the content. But, this class too was a culmination of micro-interactions. It wasn’t limited to the teacher simply saying, “make sure you use the concepts from the unit” or “listen to your talk partner.” It emerged from an abundance of in-the-moment decisions the teacher most likely made: asking students to build on others’ ideas, supporting the class to co-construct knowledge, and addressing a disparaging remark one student made to another. Each of these micro-interactions add up!
All of us who have been teachers know that it is impossible to perfectly anticipate every moment. We are human, which means we make mistakes, sometimes make decisions out of frustration, or make a well-intentioned choice that takes an unanticipated turn. My invitation is for us to embrace the practice of critically reflecting on the micro-moments and considering their political and ethical dimensions. For each decision a teacher makes in the classroom, a set of questions can illuminate its political and ethical dimensions:
- What are my assumptions about my students? What are my assumptions about how they learn?
- What are the consequences or outcomes of different decisions?
- Who benefits from a decision? Who is marginalized?
- Are certain groups of students systematically benefited or marginalized?
Critically reflecting on these questions allows us to move from assertions that a teaching approach works for all students or for certain groups of students. It pushes us to appreciate that given the diversity of students in our classes and human idiosyncrasies, certain systems and structures in our classroom always benefit students in some contexts and may marginalize them in other contexts. These reflective prompts invite us to move from generalizations that might obscure important classroom dynamics to deep engagement with the political and ethical contexts and consequences of each moment.
Transforming classrooms to equitable, just, and democratic places of learning requires simultaneous action at multiple scales: curriculum, teacher preparation and professional development, instructional aides and resources in classrooms, school and district leadership, school funding, and much more. There is no silver bullet to the exceedingly complex problems of schooling in a stratified society. By no means do I imply that attention to the moment-to-moment is sufficient. Yet, as one important dimension to equity, justice, and democratic practice in a classroom, I encourage us to recognize and embrace the significance and consequentiality of the seemingly humble moments in teaching and learning.
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Thomas M. Philip, Ph.D., Professor, University of California Berkeley
tmp@berkeley.edu
Dr. Philip is a Professor in the Berkeley School of Education and Faculty Director of the Berkeley Teacher Education Program (BTEP). He studies how ideology shapes learning and how learning is a site of ideological contestation and becoming. As a learning scientist and teacher educator, he is interested in how teachers make sense of power and hierarchy, and act on their sense of agency as they navigate and ultimately transform classrooms and institutions toward more equitable, just, and democratic practices and outcomes. His scholarship also explores the possibilities and tensions that emerge with the use of artificial intelligence and digital learning technologies in classrooms. Philip is a Fellow of the AERA and of the International Society of the Learning Sciences. Under his leadership, the BTEP was awarded the 2023 AERA Division K Award for Innovations in Research on Equity and Social Justice in Teaching and Teacher Education and the 2024 UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Excellence and Equity.
