When I think of my classroom as an ecosystem, an assignment from my high school biology class comes to mind. For the assignment, we had to “go out into nature”, observe an ecosystem, and construct a poster depicting the food chain of that ecosystem. If I am to utilize that exercise as a lens in which to view my own classroom, then the next natural question(s) are “who is at the top” or “who is at the bottom”.

This troubles me. A vertical chain of command may be a traditional setting for a classroom, but do I really want to be at the top of the food chain? Or, as an instructor, am I actually at the top of the food chain? To us this model is to state that I hunt and prey on those below me. Would that be my students? If they view our classroom in these terms of ecosystem and food chain, then they would have rights to fear me or at least be weary of me.

What would be their source of food? Upon posing this question, my thoughts shift. Maybe I am not as high up on the chain as I thought. Maybe I am the field mouse eats plans (do they eat plants?), and my students are those very plants. They exist through photosynthesis. Fed by the sun. What is that sun? Motivation. The thirst for knowledge. Their parent’s approval (or demands). Economic stability. Societal acceptance.

So I am not at the top of the food chain. The ecosystem of my class is not contained by its walls. This leaves a parting question: If I am the field mouse, then who is the hawk.