The interplay of power, control, authority is confusing and misleading and is a favorite literary theme. This story underscores the dynamics of a youngster who comes into a situation and asserts a sense of autonomous control over others. It is difficult, in the midst of the child's antics, to extricate self and reassert a more socialized or heteronomous perspective. It is vital to recognize the interchange, however, for "Scho" shows up in every classroom, in every social gathering, both in youth and adulthood.. It is a time honored position or "hat" and it is a very appealing and self satisfying role for the child. In fact, it can become a way of life that moves into adulthood as a rather disquieting personality trait and management style. It is not an uncommon stance for adults in authority who find themselves in the midst of a power struggle - pulled in through self assertion.

The satisfaction comes in winning in a different way than the heteronomous players recognize. It is not in the playing of the game, but in the control of the players that such a child derives satisfaction. Scho could not play with the expertise of the other boys. He could not force them to want him to play, but he could make the other boys pay, could break up the game, ruin the "good time was had by all" feeling. This type of scenario happens often, setting up a feeling of despair for adults and anger from other children who feel that the grown-up should be able to control such a child. As long as compliance is a desired end result for someone in the position of authority, Scho will continue to reign. When we recognize a far greater role for children, a role of taking personal responsibility for behavior, good or bad, then Scho loses the advantage, for others cannot be easily manipulated by his unwillingness to play by the rules.

The solutions for working with autonomous children are complex. The purpose of the illustration is to establish an ability to recognize the social leader role, the child with least to lose as a person who chooses to use time and energy to exert control over others. It is to validate the recognition that temper tantrums, refusals to participate, power struggles and tears are powerful ploys and to further recognize how often that interplay in the past may have gone unrecognized as a function of control, thus perpetuating the child's ability to seem "one up" and place others in a position of feeling foolish or helpless.

Environment or child
Acknowledging power and control as functions of individually discrete manifestations of personality as well as part of a social context, contributes to understanding the dynamics of child and student management (Johnson & Johnson, 1994). One focus in the literature refers to the classroom as an environment to change and children as all made of the same fabric, all trainable and manageable by external forces (Skinner, 1987; Canter & Canter,1976). The tacit corollary suggests that understanding human nature and studying or attending to individual differences is unimportant in classroom management. In fact, the name classroom management itself defines the role for discipline - managing “things” and environments. The emphasis is at least an unconscious choice, for parenting is not called home management.

Our beliefs about the purpose of the classroom and our own maturity impact the structure we develop and try to keep in place. If we view the classroom as an environment to be managed, then students who resist rules and guidelines are seen as a threat. Behavior management techniques are initiated, then punishment, then one to one behavior contracts. If a student refuses to be managed, the next option is removal from the classroom, and sometimes from the school. A ground rule in such a classroom might read. “I am here to teach, you are here to learn” [Comply and let me teach ] (Canter, 1989).

If we view the classroom as an extension of ourselves, then student attempts to change the environment may be viewed as personal assault. Any move toward independence may be a threat to the stability we arrange, any deviation may be perceived as a mutiny. Student attempts to establish personal parameters to achieve personal learning or meet a ‘needs’ agenda, tend to be viewed as at least thoughtless, and more likely as disrespectful.

In this framework, the teacher uses personal power and charisma to “charm” students into cooperating. It is a powerful model in many ways. Students love to feel included and like the personal involvement of the teacher. The teacher feels rewarded and feels a sense of bond and community with students. The deviations from teacher choices are accepted for a while as the teacher tries to “reach” the errant student. Failing that, the teacher and student progress to veiled dislike. The student baits the teacher, the teacher responds with sarcasm. The student defies the teacher, the teacher refers the student for counseling. The enmity builds between the two major players and the emotions and unrest splash into the classroom. Again, the teacher looks for a way to remove the student from class. The ground rule in this class is “I want to be liked by you.” Sometimes there are sophisticated additions to the message, but again, if students comply they are seen as likable and if they do not, they become the enemy, are seen as hostile, or are referred to special programs.

Both of these typical scenarios from today’s classrooms focus on the idea of managing the environment. Teacher is leader, teacher is boss. Teacher, by careful planning, good lessons and good intentions provides a beneficial milieu. Healthy students learn in these environments. Students who do not learn and comply in sync with others, need to be adjusted. What may appear just as obvious is that individuality, creativity, and divergent thinking or behaving are assaults to the carefully tuned environment. Students who insist on engaging in them are likely to be viewed as willful. The further the ideas or actions are from the teacher’s carefully tuned classroom, the more cacophonous they sound and the more uncomfortable they become.

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