Pretense of Democracy

Andrea Lunsford cautions against "rushing to embrace collaboration because collaboration can also be used to reproduce the status quo" (96) where teachers and tutors merely pretend not to be in charge. She says this "pretense of democracy sends badly mixed messages" (96). Just prior to that she argues such groups could monitor and evaluate themselves in a collaborative environment that "rejects traditional hierarchies" (95). Exactly how would that happen? Whenever I've been involved in a collaborative group in either a work or educational situation, at some point I got monitored and evaluated, and not just by my group members. No matter how well the group got along, usually there was a boss, client, or teacher involved (who may or may not have been a "peer" member) who had the ability to overrule group decisions or change the direction of the group's activities. I wonder if it sends a badly mixed message to pretend that students are entitled to an ideal democracy rather than have to develop means of working with, coping with, or even subverting the imperfect democracy they'll most likely encounter in collaborative situations.