Disturbing questions

I've been thinking about the faculty member's power in the classroom. In spending time with some colleagues, I've been wondering how much of their teaching career is about that power over students rather than love of discipline, service to the community, career advancement, or something else.

A related question, how much can we expect our students to "confess" their experience?

I ask this because I sat in a session in a conference recently in which the presenter described an exercise they (gender unidentified here) ask students in the class to divide themselves in groups by subcultures. After that, they each have to sit in front of the class (in the group) and answer the question "What is hard for you as a member of your subculture about living in this country?" And they each must talk for two minutes on this.

Obviously, this instructor has an agenda.

I am appalled by this exercise. It seems a blatant use of the instructor's power. What if a student does not want to says what's hard? What if they don't think anything is hard? What if one group of students says their lives are harder than another group? What if a student is a member of two or three subcultures? What if their revelations just exacerbate stereotypes?

Thoughts?

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