Academia Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for academics and those enrolled in higher education. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
What is the best way to establish your authority as the instructor in a classroom?
I am asking from the perspective of a graduate student who will be TA-ing a large class for the first time. But I think similar advice could be said for new assistant professors who still look like students.
The position of TA automatically comes with a certain amount of authority, which is referred to as legitimate power. Having said that, you can increase your perceived amount of authority by demonstrating expertise in the subject area (expert power). Expertise needs to be combined with the ability to actually communicate the complex material as well. It is much harder to communicate complex information than it is to be an expert in complex information.
In addition to these skills, authority can be further enhanced through softer skills such as demonstrating care for the students and providing additional support when necessary (referent power).
For the large majority of students who are in the class because they want to learn, you don't need to "establish" your authority. You already have it at the start of the course, simply because you are the TA. The thing you have to do is to avoid losing that established authority.
There are two important ways not to lose it. The first (which may only be obvious to you after somebody has stated the obvious!) is to be aware that you already have it, in exactly the same way that if somebody walks into a room wearing a police uniform, they already have authority simply because of "that badge." Of course TA's don't usually wear any distinctive uniform, but it should be clear enough to most people that you are the TA, and not just another student taking the course!
The second way is basically common sense: don't ask the students to do stupid stuff, and don't behave in generally unpredictable or irrational ways.
If you are the person "in charge", other people will expect you to take charge, and tell them what you want them to do - they aren't mind readers! If you have progressed through the education system as far as becoming a TA, you already have a lot of experience of other teachers and lecturers demonstrating that type of behavior (some more competently than others, of course). The only unfamiliar part of the scenario is that you are now the person in charge, not somebody else!
Acting is a big part of teaching. Thus, I strongly recommend the following book
which contains gems such as these:
We've all observed different kinds of teachers, so if I describe three types of status players commonly found in the teaching profession you may find that you already know exactly what I mean.
I remember one teacher, whom we liked but who couldn't keep discipline. The Headmaster made it obvious that he wanted to fire him, and we decided we'd better behave. Next lesson we sat in a spooky silence for about five minutes, and then one by one we began to fool about — boys jumping from table to table, acetylene-gas exploding in the sink, and so on. Finally, our teacher was given an excellent reference just to get rid of him, and he landed a headmastership at the other end of the county. We were left with the paradox that our behaviour had nothing to do with our conscious intention.
Another teacher, who was generally disliked, never punished and yet exerted a ruthless discipline. In the street he walked with fixity of purpose, striding along and stabbing people with his eyes. Without punishing, or making threats, he filled us with terror. We discussed with awe how terrible life must be for his own children.
A third teacher, who was much loved, never punished but kept excellent discipline, while remaining very human. He would joke with us, and then impose a mysterious stillness. In the street he looked upright, but relaxed, and he smiled easily.
I thought about these teachers a lot, but I couldn't understand the forces operating on us. I would now say that the incompetent teacher was a low-status player: he twitched, he made many unnecessary movements, he went red at the slightest annoyance, and he always seemed like an intruder in the classroom. The one who filled us with terror was a compulsive high-status player. The third was a status expert, raising and lowering his status with great skill. The pleasure attached to misbehaving comes partly from the status changes you make in your teacher. All those jokes on teacher are to make him drop in status. The third teacher could cope easily with any situation by changing his status first.
Again I change my behaviour and become authoritative. I ask them what I've done to create this change in my relation with them, and whatever they guess to be the reason — 'You're holding eye contact', 'You're sitting straighter' — I stop doing, yet the effect continues. Finally I explain that I'm keeping my head still whenever I speak, and that this produces great changes in the way I perceive myself and am perceived by others. I suggest you try it now with anyone you're with. Some people find it impossible to speak with a still head, and more curiously, some students maintain that it's still while they're actually jerking it about. I let such students practise in front of a mirror, or I use videotape. Actors needing authority — tragic heroes and so on — have to learn this still head trick. You can talk and waggle your head about if you play the gravedigger, but not if you play Hamlet. Officers are trained not to move the head while issuing commands.
Make it clear to the students that attendance is not factored into their grade. If students are being disruptive, remind them that they can leave if they don't want to be there, but if they stay, you expect not to have to talk over them. This speech has solved every behavior problem I've ever had to deal with, but if the problem persists after that, you can make the implicit threat explicit by docking points from whoever is causing problems. (Make sure you have authority to do this.)
I believe that authority can be established, as I believe the question was directed more at the onset of authority in a single class type setting (eg: right before class begins, chaotic scene/ everyone talking amongst themselves) quickly by the instructor/teacher noticeably raising his/her voice louder than the conversational volume, and addressing then group in a louder, deeper, authoritative tone.
Not certain if I remember correctly reading the works of the Lakov, which defines the common audio boundaries we have and set, makes for very interesting reading nonetheless.
I think a mix of knowledge/competence in ones field of study and confidence are key.
You want to not appear incompetent to keep your initial authority. You want to bring up new and interesting things in the subject of study to motivate and inspire, which is only possible if one with sufficient knowledge of the subject.
As an example: If asked a question, admitting you do not know is better than bs- ing. But knowing the answer is still better.
Leading by example is best. Certain things are permissible and go unsaid. But if being interrupted, one needs enough authority to lay down some laws/ ground rules. Speak loudly and clearly to command attention and have the back of the class hear you without being dictatorial.
Relatability can help. Ask how their day is going and aim for natural human connections more than a business relationship. This can give you respect without "asking" to command it.
Lastly, pay attention to their reactions. Are they paying attention or distracted? Do they understand and follow what you are saying? It's best to think of how you were in a similar class as an undergrad student.
Don't allow people to interrupt you when you are being instructive. Other than that, being good at explaining things helps a lot. While the students might not seem like it, they do want to learn the material. At least insofar as is necessary for the assignments.
Know how the class was taught in the past and what students may be expecting. If the class has been taught in a specific way in the past, there will be expectations about how it will run and be taught. These may be good (if the class was taught well and run well) or they may be bad (if the class was not previously taught or run very well). Taking into account what the students expect or hope for will help to establish you as an effective (and thus authoritative) teacher.
Also, as others have mentioned: know how to use the teaching materials. If you use a whiteboard/blackboard: start at one side, use it however you want but then erase the whole thing or a panel at a time and continue on. Dont empty a small space in the middle and continue writing in the small space...
This is an unusual example, but it was the downfall of one of my professors: We had a 2-semester project as part of the final degree requirement and there was a class that went along with this. In the first semester it was only actually held about once a month and only for about 15-30 minutes out of its hour slot. This was sufficient for the instructor to communicate what was needed for the project deadlines and to answer questions. In the second semester we had a new professor teaching it and he really tried so hard but due to the expectation that it would be an infrequent and short class... he failed hard and no one really put effort into the things he assigned past getting the "tick marks" to get the grade. Students felt as if the extended classes were not useful and wasteful of their project-time... I feel bad for him as students were actually quite rude to him in communicating this.
(The relevance of this is that he was NOT respected by the students in this class because the students felt as if the class was wasting their time.)
I can give you some (humorous but valid) advice on what not to do, based on our teaching workshops. These are from decades ago, but they have stuck with me:
