Abstract
In contemporary psychology and pedagogy, there is no doubt that the efficiency of instruction is in some way related to the authority of the teacher. This paper focuses on the problem of students’ perception of teacher authority. It is assumed that in order for students to recognize the teacher as an authority, they must develop a certain psychological maturity. Children and adolescents with divergent behavior do not have this maturity. Therefore, in Russian psychology, they were called difficult-to-educate children, since the traditional pedagogical influence directed at them did not produce the desired result. It is considered that, in adolescents, the problems related to authority have two origins: the difficulties in the development of convivial relationship and the difficulties in the activities of playing and role playing. The way to solve these psychological problems can be found in the correction of these two spheres.
Keywords:
historical-cultural approach; divergent behavior; teacher authority