Powerful in#uences a case of one student teacher r

*Tel.:#[phone];fax:#[phone];e-mail:[e-mail]ion15(1999)523}540Powerfulin#uences:acaseofonestudentteacherrenegotiatinghisperceptionsofpowerrelationsPegGrahamTheUniversityofGeorgia,DepartmentofLanguageEducation,125AderholdHall,Athens,GA30602,USAReceived15April1998;receivedinrevisedform31August1998;accepted7November1998AbstractInthiscasestudy,ateachercandidateinsecondaryEnglishdevelopsapowerrelationshipwithhismentorteacherthatencourageshimtointerrogatethe&&frames''hebroughttostudentteaching.Thiscasesuggeststheimportanceof(1)boththestudentteacher'sandcooperatingteacher'sprehistoriesandpersonalnarrativesaskeytextsforexplicitstudyandanalysiswithintherelationship,(2)powerrelationsasacentralissueforexplicitdiscussionwithinthepartnershipandthecontextforstudentteaching,and(3)mentorteacher/teachercandidatetensionsasapotentialsiteformutuallearning.Thesendingssuggesttheneedforamuchmoredeliberateapproachtoselectionandpreparationofteachersassumingtheroleofmentortostudentteachersduringtheeldexperience.(1999ElsevierScienceLtd.Allrightsreserved.1.IntroductionCultureandlivedexperiencedeterminetoalargedegreehowpeopleapproachpersonalandprofes-sionalrelationships,howtheytellthestoriestheylive,howtheyimaginetheimagestheycreate,howtheyconstructthetheoriestheydevelop.Forthosegoingintoteaching,imagesandpredispositionsaboutwhoteachersare,whattheydoandhowtheybehavegrowfrompersonalhistoriesaslearners(Lortie,1975)embeddedwithininstitutional,his-toricalandsocialin#uences.Barnes(1992)con-cludesthatteachersentertheprofessionfullofpreconceptionsaboutstudents,subjectmatter,learning,andcommitmenttoteaching,preconcep-tionsthatmakeupwhathecalls&&frames''.Theseframesarevalue-laden,dynamic,constructedfromindividualhistoriesofdevelopmentovertime.Furthercomplicatingourunderstandingofindi-vidualteacherframesistheframe'sembeddednessinparticularconditionsandthehistoryofteachingasaprofession.Teaching,forexample,hashistori-callybeenassociatedwithfemaleswhichhas,toacertaindegree,determinedhowteachingandteachersareviewedbysocietyatlarge.Theex-treme,contradictoryimagescreatedbypublicopinionconcerningwhatteacherscanandshoulddointensiesa&&lesser''statusforteachers.0742-051X/99/$-seefrontmatter(1999ElsevierScienceLtd.Allrightsreserved.PII:S0742-051X(98)00064-XLightfoot(1983)explainsthe&&Catch-22''situationteachersface:Itwouldseemthatourculturaldenitionsoftheteacherroleposeaninherentcontradic-tionthatclaimsthatinordertocommunicatee!ectivelywithchildren,teachersmustex-hibitthenurturant,receptivequalitiesofthefemalecharacteridealandtheexpressive,adaptivequalitiesofthechild.Ironically,thesesamequalitiesareregardedasinferiorandoflowstatuswhenoneconceivesoftheteacherinrelationtothesocialandoccupa-tionalstructureofsociety(p.248).Schooladministrators,ontheotherhand,havehistoricallybeenmale(Lortie,1975),andschoolsorganizedhierarchically.AccordingtoGilligan(1982)thehierarchyimagere#ectsamaleperspect-iveonrelationshipswhichstandsinmarkedcon-trasttothefemaleorganizingimageofawebofconnections.Ine!ect,then,genderisametaphorforhowschoolsarerun,associatingmenwithposi-tionsofpowerandauthority,womenwithposi-tionsofcollaborationandadaptivequalities(Lightfoot,1983).Formanypreserviceteachers,theinvisiblebutpowerfulforceoftheirexperienceswithinahierarchicalschoolingculturehasaprofounde!ectontheframestheyformandbringtotheirteachereducationexperiences.Evenifprospectiveteachersareunabletoarticu-latethe&&rules''surroundingcomplicatedschoolingcultures,theyknowhowtofunctionsafelywithinthem.Theyalsoknowwhichvoiceswithinschoolhierarchiesareprivileged.Theseperceptionsofpowerandauthorityareatthecenterofthementorteacher/studentteacherrelationship,in#uencingnotonlythestatusofeachpartnerandtheimagestheyassociatewith&&goodteachers'',butalsotheirwillingnesstocritiquethecontrollingideologiesoftheplacestheycallschool.2.TheoreticalframeworkParticipantsinanypowerrelationshiparecon-structedandactuatedbypriorrelationswithauth-oritygures,institutions,events,andtexts.AccordingtoWertsch(1991)theinnerspeechVygotskypositsasanoutgrowthofexternaldia-logueis,infact,theresultofmanyvoicesthathavecomeincontactwiththelearneracrosssocialdis-tance,timeandspace.Inthisway,eachofusismultivoiced,alwaysintheprocessofrespondingtoandrestoryingthoselivedexperiences(Clandinin,Davies,Hogan&Kennard,1993).AsFoucault(1997)theorizes,&&[T]hesepowerrelationsaremo-bile,theycanbemodied,theyarenotxedonceandforall...[butare]...reversible,andunsta-ble....Thusinorderforpowerrelationstocomeintoplay,theremustbeatleastacertaindegreeoffreedomonbothsides''(p.292).This&&dialogicality''resultsinamuchmoredynamicconceptofsocialinteractionbetweenindividualsinapowerrelation(Wertsch,1991).Ittakesintoaccounton-goingdialoguewhichmaysupport,complicateorcon-strainradicalreformbasedondeepexaminationofbasicvaluesandpowerrelationshipswithininstitu-tionssuchasschool(Goodman,1995).Withinthecooperatingteacher/studentteacherrelationship,then,theexchangesthattakeplaceconstitutea#owofin#uencesinmultipledire