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Frank FurediProfessor of Sociology at University of Kent, and author of Wasted: Why Education Isn't Educating, Politics of Fear, Where Have All the Intellectuals Gone?, Therapy Culture, Paranoid Parenting and Culture of Fear. |
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| Rethinking education – the new crisis of adult authority in the classroom Endless disputes about everything from the role of assessments, exams and inspections to the content of the curriculum seem to add up to a crisis in schooling. In his new book, Wasted – Why education isn’t educating, Professor Frank Furedi argues these controversies are symptoms of a more fundamental problem: confusion about adult authority. Since education requires the conscious and regular imposition of that authority, it is here that the crisis is most pronounced. The insecurity experienced by a significant section of the teaching profession in dealing with pupils’ misbehaviour suggests they often feel powerless, but apprehensions about discipline are only the starkest expression of unease about adult authority. Teaching inevitably involves an unequal relationship between adults and children. It presupposes that the older generation has something important to impart. And in order to learn, children have to accept of the authority of the teacher who embodies knowledge of a subject. But today, teachers and parents alike often try to avoid acting authoritatively because they feel uncomfortable with this hierarchical role. Listen to the session here. First published by Battle of Ideas, 22 December 2009 |
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