The Power of Organizations and Movements

"The power of organizations depends on their ability to reward people who abide by their norms–even the people who suffer from those norms. For example, a racist society depends on a majority who are rewarded for keeping the minority “in its place" and on a minority willing to stay there. But as group members discover rewards for alternative behavior, it becomes more difficult for racism to reign. Likewise, an educational system that ignores human needs in favor of a narrow version of professionalism depends on a reward system that keeps both faculty and students in their place. But as soon as rewards for alternative behavior emerge for either group, it becomes more difficult for reform to be denied its day." Palmer (1992).

When I decided to become a teacher, it was because I wanted to help society. I spent so many years being angry and frustrated. I had worked jobs where if I fell over, I would be instantly replaced. As someone who dropped out of high school in their senior year, I was hoping that I could be the teacher that I often didn't have (or never did). I care very deeply about kids.

If you would have told me, and several did, that education was equity and justice, I would have whispered in my head, "that's one way of looking at it." Or maybe I did listen and believe, but then in getting into schools I forgot. That happens a lot from what we learn in our preparation programs. Schools, like all systems, benefit when we forget what we've learned or know. It's all part of assimilation: there are many forms of this.

How we teach is a matter of equity and justice. It is nothing less than 100% this all of the time.

I like the above quote for a couple reasons. First, it mentions faculty and students. Students have power and voices. We cannot give them voices nor can we empower them. This is dangerous thinking, and when we speak this way or believe this way,  we are attempting to shift the power in the room to ourselves. They have truly had enough of that. Second, I am coming to appreciate this idea of alternative rewards. In truth, we depend on it. How folx are treated inside of systems for growing justice and equity matters.

Palmer (1992) discusses how there are two approaches to change: the "organizational" approach and the "movement" approach (p. 1). The basic premise is that when we expect to make organizational changes as a group of actors, we are often disappointed or broken because the organization doesn't yield. They aren't made to, but we try and fail and then ultimately give up. He is arguing for the movement approach to create a group that transforms "private" concerns into "public issues." Palmer uses public to mean in the open and private to mean behind closed doors to define his terms here. He states that what we often consider to be a private problem is actually something that many people are aware of and suffering from - especially inside organizations and systems. That is the beauty of how these organizations are built - they are meant to separate and divide to sustain themselves. But by forming a movement and then coming together over these issues, we can bring them into the light and work towards his concept of rewards.

He writes the following about rewards:

The power of organizations depends on their ability to reward people who abide by their norms–even the people who suffer from those norms. A racist society depends on a majority who are rewarded for keeping the minority “in its place" and on a minority willing to stay there. But as members of either group discover rewards for alternative behavior, it becomes more difficult for racism to reign. An educational system that ignores human need in favor of a narrow version of professionalism depends on a reward system that keeps both faculty and students in their place. But as soon as rewards for alternative behavior emerge for either group, it becomes more difficult for reform to be denied its day. 

If movements persist, then the system or organization will be forced to offer rewards to persist. This can also be read as change. For this to happen, people must live with integrity (Palmer, 1992, p. 2). This demands that folx start choosing what is right over what is comfortable, profitable, or even sustainable in their lives. Bread, food, housing, job security - none of this matters, argues Palmer if we live without integrity. While I agree with him and what he is positing here, there are some points I'd like to make. First, systems are inherently biased: women get paid less, Black women even less, Hispanic women even less. Women are expected to take care of families (sometimes alone). Educational organizations (teachers) are over 75% white and female. There is already inequity here. What Palmer is asking is made more complicated by the power dynamics that already exist inside organizational systems. It's frustrating at best, insidious at worst. Why are the ones suffering in systems the ones that are forced to make the changes? This is by design. So how do we make change?

Thinking of my particular context, the first step is to meet and talk and make the issues public to each other. This part is crucial because if we focus on the organizational approach, then our movement will fail. So then, we must make our issues public. The good news is that there are already groups of people meeting and doing this work. I just need to join them. Going back to privilege, as a white man, I am more obligated to do this work because I am the one that is benefiting the most inside of the current system. I am the one that is receiving the least amount of challenge. My race isn't the one that is being banned from discussion or the story of my culture. It isn't my identity under attack.

Palmer, P. (1992). Divided no more: A movement approach to educational reform. Change Magazine, 24(2), 10-17.