A qualitative study on the nature of educational authority in three school-wide events in an elementary school

^#The researcher was affiliated to Montclair State University during the research that is subject of this article.

Abstract

The goal of this article is to advance the mapping of territories and temporalities of authority in schools. I followed a kindergarten classroom in its activities inside the school, and came to experience how authority was enacted differently in three school-wide events in comparison to the regular rhythm of the classroom life. The three school-wide events discussed in this article are the standardised testing period, emergency events and a school-wide assembly. Although these three events may appear to be of different natures, the analysis will demonstrate they all share a certain form of authority, which I identify as being bureaucratic. This article may be of interest to theorists and researchers interested in the issue of authority in schools, but also to teachers because they should be aware of how this bureaucratic form of authority may affect their work.

Acknowledgement

I want to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Kathryn Herr for all her help during the long process that leads to this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

^# The researcher was affiliated to Montclair State University during the research that is subject of this article.