Teacher: Authority in evidence

Abstract

The end of authority in modern society has been evidenced by educators and society as a whole. At first, studies point out that this rupture originated from two main factors: the denial of the past by the bias of tradition and the ascension of modern society, which promoted equality in all spheres of human life. It is assumed that teaching is sustained when professors are bearers of knowledge recognized as legitimate in the school hierarchy and this asymmetry is conceived and exercised within an institution bearing the republican principles of equal opportunities and commitment to the common good. In this perspective, we defend a cultural and social scenario that promotes a lasting knowledge, that deals with universal issues, discusses and cultivates tradition, investigates principles and foundations of knowledge in general. It is not a matter of defending a dogmatic posture that denies doubt, but of understanding the contradictions about the ideal and material conditions of the relationship between what is known and what is on the way to learning. The study is theoretical in distinct epistemological fields, aiming at articulating education, philosophy and sociology. An approximation is sought between the concept of authority and knowledge and its relationship in educational processes from authors such as Rousseau (1979), Arendt (2010), Assmann (2000), Bauman (2010), Sennett (2001), Freire (1991), and Morin (2002). Finally, the text also expresses the subjective meaning and the interweaving between the thinking subject and the researched object.