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Perceptions of Authority in Contemporary Education in the Light of Qualitative Research Conducted among Students of Education
Małgorzata Przybysz-Zaremba
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2542-5104Izabela Bieńkowska
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5885-6379Abstract
The aim of this study is to present how students of pedagogy perceive and define authority in relation to their life experiences, and to determine the significance they attribute to authority in the context of their own educational and upbringing experiences. The research presented here sought answers to the following questions: What biographical experiences of pedagogy students influence their understanding of authority?; How do the respondents, drawing on their own life experiences, describe the characteristics and attitudes of people they regard as authorities?; How has authority functioned and does it function in their individual upbringing and educational experiences?; How do education students interpret the role of authority in working with socially maladjusted individuals in the light of their own experiences and observations?; What meanings do the respondents attribute to the absence of authority, referring to their own experiences and observed educational situations?; How is the role of the family as a source of educational authority presented in the biographical narratives of education students? The study employed a qualitative research strategy based on the content analysis of the respondents’ statements obtained through narrative interviews. This approach enabled the capture of the richness of meanings and ways of understanding the concept of authority among current (undergoing further training) and future educators, whilst remaining consistent with the assumptions of the adopted biographical research paradigm, which arose from the need for a deeper understanding of how the meanings attributed to authority by the respondents are constructed. The narratives of 72 respondents were analysed. Content analysis of the participants’ statements reveals a complex and ambivalent approach among students to the issue of authority – on the one hand, its absence is noted; on the other, the need for credible and consistent role models is strongly emphasised.
Keywords:
authority, education, youth, family, teacherDetails
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
