The Importance Of Expert Power In Education

After working in the field of education for the last sixteen years, I have experience working with others that have exercised 1) coercive 2) reward 3) legitimate 4) expert and 5) referent power with employees, customers, and other stakeholders. I have also experienced these same types of power while pursuing my academic goals at in K-12, community colleges, and universities. According to McCroskey & Richmond (1983), power is perceived by individuals that exercise it or “whom the power might be exerted” (pg. 4). Individuals that work in schools and exercise power must consider how it can impact employees, members of the public, and students. In addition, they must identify how they can effectively communicate it to others. In this analysis, …show more content…
According to Johnson (2012), expert power is based on the “characteristics of the individuals regardless of her or his official position”. In addition, “knowledge, skills, education, and certification all build expert power” (Johnson, 2012, pg. 8) consequently, the “main impact of expert power is [the] change in an individual’s cognitions” for the purpose of changing their behavior (McCroskey & Richmond, 1983, pg. 5). In order to succeed in harnessing expert power, school leaders must convince their stakeholders that they “have access to esoteric matters only to be reached through their specialized skills” (Reed, …show more content…
For example, students can enhance the referent power teachers have by identifying with them and transferring their power to the teacher by admiring them. Johnson (2014), notes how employees are “more likely to do favors for a supervisor [they] admire” (pg. 8). During my academic studies, I recall participating in event and completing tasks for teachers that I admired. For example, I traveled with one of my professors to Washington D.C. in order to attend the annual research board and even contacted the IRS in order to complete a classroom