The teaching authority and the information society: the role of information technology in teaching

Abstract

This paper aims to identify how the technologies and the teaching practice in the “Information Society” reinforce or challenge the teacher’s perception of his/her authority. Hannah Arendt’s works are the main theoretical pillar. This qualitative research project used the analysis of collective subject discourse. Results identified that students easily interacted with technology, since this use does not exceed the communication and leisure contexts. Furthermore, students’ access to the new informational bases in fact can generate a feeling of loss of authority on the part of the unprepared teacher. At last, the mastery of technology by the teacher does not establish his/her authority, but rather the relation of meaning constructed during the educational relationship.

Teacher Authority; Education crisis; Technology; Information; Uncertainty