Teacher-student power relations in primary schools in Hong Kong

Abstract

This qualitative case study explores power relations between teacher and students in a classroom-based teaching and learning process. Sixteen Grade Four and Five classes in four Hong Kong primary schools were studied to determine how teachers and students experience and exercise power in classrooms in the context of Hong Kong, and how that power is expressed in such varied combinations. Observations, individual interviews and document analysis were the main data collection methods employed.

The study identifies three major patterns in teacher-student power relations in 73 observed classroom lessons: Pattern I (Teacher Domination); Pattern II (Equal Opportunity for Power Sharing); and Pattern III (Student Self-Empowerment). Pattern I classrooms demonstrated student disempowerment, while Pattern II and III classrooms were characterised by teacher-initiated and student-initiated student empowerment, respectively. The study finds that, in each power pattern, teachers and students play a variety of classroom roles (teachers as rule- and textbook-enforcer, learning-facilitator and learning-assistant; students as rule- and learning-follower, learning-partner and master of learning) and adopt different power strategies (manipulation, giving-power and standing-back among teachers; compliance, cooperation, and self-governance among students).

The study also identifies six players/forces (facilitating factors) shaping teacher-student power distribution: (a) the cultural value of respect for authority and for teachers; (b) the Curriculum Reform initiative and the promotion of student-centric teaching modes; (c) school policies and cultures; (d) subject nature and curriculum contents; (e) teachers; and (f) students. Based on its findings, the study suggests viewing teacher-student power relations in the context of Hong Kong as a reflection of multileveled intertwined interactions. This interpretation implies that teacher-student classroom interactions are affected by various factors in a wider context, rather than mutual effects between teacher and students alone; each factor involved in a multileveled context (classrooms, schools, education system, and Hong Kong society) shapes teacher-student power relations. The coexistence of the three identified power patterns and the related empowering and disempowering situations is the result of the individual and collective effects of the six facilitating factors.

This empirical study supplements the understanding of teacher-student power relations in the context of Hong Kong by proposing a theoretical framework that relates to the local socio-cultural, educational and school contexts. The study suggests the need for further explorations of teacher-student power relations at other school levels in Hong Kong and in other cities in mainland China or elsewhere. Additional potential directions for future research include an exploration of the development of student empowerment inside and outside of the classroom in a purposive case school and an exploration of teacher-student power relations in specific subjects.