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. We’re all familiar with how many teachers and parents affect the role of a ‘mate’ in their dealings with children. It is even common for teachers to call themselves ‘learners’, and listening to the ‘pupil voice’ is a mandatory requirement of school life.

While this trend is presented as progressive and enlightened, critics like Furedi argue it represents an evasion of the responsibility that grown-ups have towards the younger generation. Teachers need to assume pedagogic authority in order to initiate, direct and set the terms of their relationship with children, often imposing demands on youngsters that go against the child’s inclination, such as insisting that children study a topic in which they have no interest, but which is nevertheless fundamentally important for their development. Similarly, teachers need to set boundaries to help children acquire the habit of self-discipline and concentration, and curb their tendency to get distracted. What are the consequences when teachers flounder and accommodate to the inclinations and feelings of children?  Without conscious adult guidance, how can education be anything other than an arbitrary and confusing experience? 

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