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allies, how to build up deviance credits (institutional brownie points
you accrue by taking on tasks others are reluctant to perform), and
when to cash these in. Finally, you will know which strategies and
tactics are likely to have the greatest effect as you pursue your ends.
One of the most important dimensions
of this anthropological
work is researching the culturally approved language of the institu-
tion. A junior member of an organization who wishes to persuade
those in power of the merits of a new and potentially threatening
initiative she wishes to sponsor would be well advised to couch her
proposal in accessible terms. In doing this it is immensely helpful if
you know the language that is spoken and approved by those in
power. It is surprising how much you can accomplish with no one
objecting to, or even noticing, activities that are strongly alterna-
tive as long as these are described in terms that are familiar and
approved. If the rhetoric of “learner-centeredness,” “academic rigor,”
“critical
thinking,” or “responding to emerging needs” is adapted to
describe teaching practices that challenge institutional norms,
chances are nobody will visit the close attention on your classroom
that would otherwise stifle your creativity.
Building alliances is also an outcome of the sort of anthropo-
logical research I am advocating. Change rarely happens as a result
of wholly individual effort (though one person armed with sheer
dogged determination can outlast and outwit people with strategic
sophistication who don’t want to put in the hours of sitting through
committee meetings) but rather tends to be linked to some sort of
collective initiative. So, for activist effect,
as well as for the emo-
tional sustenance it provides, we need to build alliances with like-
minded peers. How do we find such peers? One way is to make sure
we attend faculty meetings and watch who speaks out on issues
about which we feel strongly.
Note, however, that a faculty member’s speaking out doesn’t
necessarily mean that anyone is listening. We all know of colleagues
who talk a lot at faculty meetings but who are rarely heard. This is
in contrast to those who talk only occasionally but whose opinions
often have greater credibility as a result. Such faculty have what the
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English political observer Simon Hoggart (1981) calls TATBTS
(TABS for short)—The Ability To Be Taken Seriously. TABS is
defined as “an ability
to impress your colleagues, a knack of convinc-
ing them that you are someone to whom it is worth paying attention,
the kind of man (
sic) of whose remarks people might be heard mut-
tering ‘y-e-e-s, that could well be the case,’ rather than sniggering
behind their hands” (p. 46). If you can find colleagues in your insti-
tution who have TABS and who share your convictions, these are
potentially very valuable allies. They can vouch to colleagues regard-
ing your sincerity and competence, they
can provide crucial infor-
mation on how to move an initiative through the organization, and
they can help you frame a contentious view in ways that will be heard
and considered (rather than being dismissed out of hand).
Watching and learning—a kind of radical patience—are the
precursors to effective action. Shor describes this process as follows:
“If you do a careful institutional profile, a map of who is on your side
politically, then you can find allies, scout your enemies in advance,
get a feel for what terrain offers some political opening. This prepa-
ration not only reduces the chances of miscalculating the room for
opposition, but it also starts knitting you into your location” (Shor
and Freire, 1987, p. 66). One particularly helpful piece of advice he
offers is the merit of earning deviance credits.
Deviance credits are institutional kudos,
organizational brownie
points, earned by publicly performing tasks crucial to organizational
functioning, such as serving on the alumni, library, or diversity com-
mittee or helping to organize fund-raising events. Undertaking these
tasks earns you a reputation as an organizational loyalist. They help
you bank a large number of deviance credits in the account of your
organizational credibility. Then, when it comes time for you to take
an oppositional stand, you cannot be dismissed out of hand as a
troublemaker clearly disloyal to the institution. This is because your
voice carries with it the institutional credibility
of having performed
these approved tasks. Cashing in your deviance credits at a strate-
gic moment means you pry open a gap in which your concerns
receive serious attention.
Dealing with the Politics of Teaching
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