Competitive essentialism emerges only under coercive authoritarian pedagogy

Evidence

In the institutions where I have taught, the prevailing pedagogical model is authoritarian, hierarchical in a coercive and often dominating way, and certainly one where the voice of the professor is the “privileged” transmitter of knowledge. Usually these professors devalue including personal experience in classroom discussion. … If a professor’s pedagogy is not liberatory, then students will probably not compete for value and voice in the classroom. That essentialist standpoints are used competitively does not mean that the taking of those positions creates the situation of conflict. — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, 171

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to bell hooks’ broader liberatory pedagogy theme and to other critical-pedagogy texts engaging Freire. — connects to: Avoiding authoritarianism without directives can become neglectful laissez-faire teaching — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 736; Authoritarians lack practice in independent critical reasoning — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1192; Authoritarian traits may cohere as class norms rather than psychic dynamics (+2 more)
• SEED: A possible essay: when students weaponize identity claims competitively, the root cause may be the professor’s authoritarian model, not the identity claim itself.

Broader Connections

• Authoritarianism is a learned ideology, not a personality pathology #corroborates (0.76)
• Avoiding authoritarianism without directives can become neglectful laissez-faire teaching #qualifies (0.74) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 736
• Authoritarian traits may cohere as class norms rather than psychic dynamics #complicates (0.74)
• Professors can espouse liberatory theory while practicing domination in class #exemplifies (0.73)
• Authoritarians lack practice in independent critical reasoning #expands (0.72) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1192