Competing discourses of power in teachers’ stories of challenging relationships with students

Abstract

Student–teacher relationships have been largely explored in literature from the perspective of successful relationships, i.e., what constitutes a successful relationship and how teachers build them. However, in moments of student defiance, resistance or pushback, how do teachers react? When teachers recount such moments, is the narrative one describing the teacher’s attempt to maintain authority and order, or do teachers provide a different narrative when recounting how they dealt with these difficult moments with students? This study seeks to identify narratives of power in teachers’ discourse within their stories about challenges in their relationships with students. Challenging relationships among teachers and students can stem from a struggle with power. Findings from the study examine how teachers use discourse to position themselves and their students within structures of power when reflecting on difficult or challenging relationships with students. The stories in this study contain some evidence of students’ resistance in refusing to meet teachers’ expectations or by pushing back on a teacher’s behaviour. Yet, teachers struggled to balance their authority and share power with students to negotiate a solution.