Authority in the Classroom:
Reading Stanley Milgram

January 4, 2007

This term, which has begun in a whirl of activity, I teach Freshman Studies. The class starts off with a book that has really grown on me: Obedience to Authority by Stanley Milgram. This is the book on the topic of that experiment in which individuals are asked to administer an educational exam and each time the "learner" gets a question wrong he received a shock. The shocks increase in intensity until the "learner" begins to holler that he wants to stop the experiment.. and it is evident that he is in extreme pain. The surprise of the experiment is the high percentage of people (over 60%) who were willing to proceed to the maximum voltage.

It is a good book to reflect on as a teacher.. On the first day of class I generally walk into a class and write my name on the board: Professor Smith. And that is only the least subtle of the actions that are geared to let students know who is in charge. That sense of "being in charge" in turn engenders obedience on the part of the students. As Milgram points out this state of being under someone's authority is a position that human beings are habituated to from the earliest moments of their lives. Who is out to tear down family and education?

At the same time this structure of authority is what legitimizes terrible action. Commentary from Milgram and others often focuses on large scale atrocities like genocide, but I think his insights are perfectly applicable to smaller scale situations. A while back when we read the biography of Woody Guthrie, I was interested in the description of banks foreclosing small farmers during the dustbowl years.. and thinking about the bankers who had to carry out those official "policies". That is a parallel case of people doing terrible harm but not allowing themselves to question their actions.. as long as it is a "policy" it must be OK.

Obedience to Authority opens up the possibility of a critique of systems and institutions. People are largely drones, programmed to follow orders and carry out commands. The crux of moral action is not in the heart of the individual, but in the gears of the system. That runs strikingly counter to most religious and popular views of good and evil.. and it is interesting on the internet to find uses of Milgram as an exposer of human individual "depravity".. such language only betrays an insufficient grasp of Milgram's work.

But back to the implications for my teaching. I am teaching within an institution. My words and actions are setting up a system of authority. In some ways I find that disheartening. I think to myself: let's just forget this Dr. and Prof. stuff.. and then let's just exchange ideas equally.. but so long as I am handing out grades and evaluating, there is not much I can really do to lessen my authority.. I am limited to cosmetic changes.. if I go further, what I am doing ceases to be higher education.

It is easier to think in terms of education as a tool for prodding students to be more willing to challenge authority. But if that is to happen it will not be from the content of my talks.. but from my responses to students. I have had plenty of experiences in grad school where I have witnessed authoritarian professors teach anti-authoritarian ideas.. and of course never see the conflict between their actions and words. Milgram leaves me with a desire to redouble my efforts to present myself in the setting of the classroom in ways that encourage students to strip off more of our common dronehood..