Exploring the complexity of power with 5th grade students

On the JusticexDesign (JxD) project, we are exploring teaching about the complexity of power. The JxD principle—Power is multidimensional—states “Power is complex and takes many forms. It is not linear and is not binary. Different types of power influence how people and systems interact. Everyone has some form of power.” How might we support learners to recognize the multiple dimensions of power? How might we support them to make power visible? To see themselves—and their communities—as powerful? To see other people and systems as powerful too?

When I first started participating in JusticexDesign, I very quickly realized I was drawn to teaching about power. Why? For context, I teach in a community where most of my students come from low-income immigrant families and navigate particular complexities of systemized oppression every day. I noticed that my students didn’t always recognize themselves as powerful. Tackling this complex concept with my 5th grade students felt daunting at first. We began by coming up with a collective definition for power.

In order to come up with a collective definition for power we used Ron Ritchhart’s “Making Meaning” thinking routine from The Power of Making Thinking Visible. Here’s how the steps of the routine unfolded in my class:

• Students each first came up with a word that they thought of when they heard the word “power”

• They added another word or phrase to what another student had written about power

• Then they took a step back and named connections amongst the ideas that had been generated up to that point

• Students wrote a question that they had about power

• They each came up with their own definition.

• Then they pulled apart the most important parts of their definitions to come up with one collective definition of power.

In using this routine, I was able to uncover my students conceptions and misconceptions about power. It was really interesting to see that some students thought about power only in terms of science, as in electricity and physical forces; while other students thought about power as having control over something or someone. Over the past couple of years, I have done this routine in person and online with students during distance learning.

Seeing my students’ initial understanding of power, I was curious to learn about what else they related to this concept. In order to do so, I asked them to draw what they thought a powerful person looked like, making their conceptions of power visible. Along with their drawing, they described what made this person powerful and how they showed their power. Many students drew family members as powerful figures, while others chose to draw historical or political figures. In their drawings and descriptions, I started to notice that they were seeing power in a binary. Their writings described power as good or bad, as helpful or hurtful, but they weren’t seeing the complexity of power.

The JusticexDesign framework supports students to see beyond a binary of power by emphasizing the many types of power that can be found in systems, interactions, people, etc. With my students, we looked at power over, power to, power with, and power within (see examples of the types of power in the tool People, Systems, Power, Participation). This recognition of different types of power allowed my students to start to identify how they might be powerful within different systems that they participate in. Students were quickly able to recognize that sometimes they have power over younger relatives when they are at home, power to help others at home and at school, power with others to help their community, and power within to be brave during scary situations.

Once my students started recognizing the different types of power they have, they also started recognizing and seeing power in others: celebrities, teachers, community leaders, and even other students in our school. Although my students were starting to see how they and others could be powerful in different ways, they still weren’t identifying power in the content we were exploring in class. They were struggling to understand that pieces of content—books, art, media, etc.—are not neutral, that they can empower or oppress those who interact with them.

In an attempt to help students begin identifying power in visual content, we spent some time looking at “Kikito,” an art installation by French artist JR at the Mexico-U.S. border in Tecate, California, which features an enormous toddler peering over the border wall. To look at the piece, we used the Power, Possibilities, Me tool. Students began by looking closely at the piece and noticing everything, even without knowing any of the context. Then we discussed whether or not this image showed power. Almost immediately students began naming where they saw or didn’t see the different types of power, while still not knowing the context for this image.

After sharing some of the context about the art installation, and in continuing with Power, Possibilities, Me, my students spent some time thinking and talking about how they felt connected or distant to this image and to the powers that they had named. They also reflected on what or who this installation could stand for—or stand in the way of. This allowed students to begin forming an understanding of how power was related to the design of the content. They started noticing how decisions made by the artist showed different types of power and how others’ perspectives may influence how they see these powers portrayed.

They also started to be able to name and recognize how content could empower or oppress others. It was exciting to see their understanding of power expand as we moved through Power, Possibilities, Me. Using the JxD tools, I’m seeing students shift from their original binary understanding of power to having more complex ideas about power—including seeing themselves as powerful and quickly recognizing the types of power. The language of power has become a shared language in our classroom.

With power, just like with anything else, you need to be able to know what is there in order to manipulate it. You need to look closely at it in order to shift, move, or change it. Like my colleague and JxD origin educator Anne Leflot says in the Introduction to Making Across the Curriculum video— “In order to hack something, you must first understand it.” For example in math, we are dividing fractions, which can be initially scary for students because often times they see the word division and immediately think, “I already know I don't like division,” and then they see fractions and think, “I already know that I don't like fractions,” but when we slow down and go a bit deeper, we are able to visualize what's happening. They start to see the parts of the process. They say, “Wait a minute, I know how to divide and I know how to manipulate fractions. Now I just have to do it together.” From 3000 feet, it can look scary—treacherous even! It’s in the slowing down and diving deep that they realize, “I can do this. I just need to slow down and not let my fear get in the way.”

We are looking closely at what’s there, taking it apart, understanding the different parts and how they work together. We have started applying what we are learning about power in discussions about systems—what kinds of power systems have and how they use these kinds of power. While there is a lot left for us all to learn and understand about power, the JusticexDesign framework and tools have made these complex, sometimes heavy, concepts more accessible for my learners. Eventually, my hope is that we will work toward reimagining power and finding opportunities to make shifts in power—in our everyday lives and in the systems we participate in. That is the future of this work with my students and what I look forward to exploring next school year.