38 Working Days Left: Truth and Power

I entered the doctoral program at Utah already studied in Foucauldian analysis and an undergirding of scepticism about the nature of the academy.  While at Utah I'd sometimes scribble bits of Elvis Costello pop on the blackboard in the "mail room:"  "I wanta bite the hand that feeds me, I wanta bite that hand so badly, I wanta make them wish they'd never seen me!"

My attitude was enhanced by my conversations with Professor Fox who, even though he was a star in the world of research and teaching had many caustic things to say about the institution for which he labored so constantly.  He encouraged me in my critical analysis of the naturalized practices we both inhabited.

Because of Foucault and Fox and others I came to the understanding that if I didn't owe truth to power, neither did anyone else.  That includes my students.  To the extent that I have full economic power in the classroom, they have no duty to be honest with that power.  It is only when classroom power is shared through clear, fair grading policies and transparent guidelines on redress of grievances that it is appropriate to expect honesty from students. 

Because I know that various surveys have shown that between 50 - 80 percent of American college students have admitted to cheating, I have various rules and systems in place to discourage that behavior.  I sometimes even say that I felt "sad" when I was betrayed by some students I liked a few years ago.  But I'm not, really.  My expression of personal concern is a rhetoric to encourage commitment to standards of academic honesty by making any betrayal seem like a personal affront to a teacher who is trying so hard to help everyone get a good grade in the class.  But really, my ego isn't that involved. 

I believe that teachers, like Arjuna, should be passionately committed to the practice but not to the identity they construct while engaged in the practice.