A powerful teacher presence was highly valued by these youth. Furthermore, they had strong negative opinions of teachers who “tried to act like students.” This perspective is highly consistent with work conducted by Delpit (1988) over two decades ago who discussed effective teachers of African American students as individuals who could “control the class through exhibition of personal power” and who “establishes meaningful interpersonal relationships that garner student respect.” She further observed that “Black children expect an authority figure to act with authority [and] . . . When the teacher instead acts as a “chum” the message is sent that the adult has no authority” (Delpit, 1988, p. 289).

I actually think a lot after I read this passage. In modern days, we advocate a student-centered classroom for adolescents in some occasions. The teacher, instead of being an instructor, we appreciate that she could be a facilitator. So I used to have this opinion that a teacher who could be friends with her students is a good teacher, and I even criticized some of my teachers for being too strict and authoritative. We have even heard some words saying that a teacher should be friends with her students in order to maintain a good relationship and to create an effective learning environment.

However, I have changed my mind after I read this, and It is actually good for me to be informed that there are students who prefer to have an authority in the classroom. It brings me the question whether the classroom could still be well-managed if the teacher loses her authority and just act as a friend of her students? No one can guarantee that. So it is extremely important for me to know that an authoritative teacher is needed in a classroom, for the sake of students.

When I get back to the issue of a student-centered classroom, I realize that it doesn’t mean that the teacher will lose her authority if the class is student-centered. No matter what role the teacher plays in a classroom, we cannot deny or ignore the strong presence of the teacher. In this way, it is actually a task for the teacher to find a balance between “being a chum” with her students and “being the absolute authority” in the classroom.