Authoritarianism of school principals and administrators: the dark side of school violence and leadership

Abstract

ABSTRACT

This paper uses a notion of school violence, which includes authoritarianism as a problem, theorised as a fluid concept that emerges in organisational interaction and presents diffuse and shifting boundaries. School authoritarianism unfolds as a rhizome of power that exerts violence, produces processes of negation-creation to incite the behavioral performativities it considers legitimate. Fourteen interviews with Chilean education professionals are analysed, following Grounded Theory principles. The results reflect diverse situations of school authoritarianism that are carried out through a wide repertoire of practices, some legal but ethically questionable, projected towards the victims in different levels of aggressiveness. The participants describe a diverse range of emotional effects and propose solutions to a recurrent problem in the Chilean education system. There is a lack of internal organisational justice mechanisms to resolve these situations within a framework of balance of power.