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Power Of A Panopticon

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Morgan (2005) defines positionality as “each subject depending on other subjects to maintain their position” (p339) in a given discourse. By responding to the administrator’s questions, parents are subjecting themselves to the dominance of the questioner. In other words, parents are assuming the position of the oppressed. Within the panopticon, the oppressed are in the periphery, individualized and under the surveillance of the watchful eyes in the tower. In this case, the power of the administrators is dependent on the conformity of parents. Similarly, in schools, teachers, administrators, and peers position children into their roles within the context of the classroom, school, and social groups. Constance Ellwood and Bronwyn Davies (2010) …show more content…

While administrators exercise a great deal of power over student governance, teachers have a more direct and profound impact on students within the panopticon system. Joakim Landahl (2013) offers and interesting insight into the panopticon within the classroom walls and discusses a counterpoint, the synopticon. According to Landahl, the panopticon is physically present in the classroom by the way in which teachers arrange student sitting. Rows of tables and chairs facing forward at the teacher’s ‘stage.’ In this set-up, the teacher represents power and authority from a panopticon perspective. However, by arranging their classrooms in this form, teachers subject themselves to the synopticon system. In this system, those with influence are in the ever-watchful eyes of the people they dominate. Unlike the panopticon where uni-directional windows prevent prisoners from witnessing what is happening inside the tower, in the synopticon the tower serves like a pedestal placing the dominate figure for all eyes to see, similar to a celebrity. In contrast to the panopticon, those in the periphery individualized and scrutinize the dominant figure. In a classroom, teachers are cautious with their actions and words to avoid being seen as a pushover, weak, or prune by their students. In this way, teachers monitor their own behaviors to avoid being the topic of discourse. Teacher evaluations further the conceptualization of the synopticon in the classroom by placing teachers under the surveillance and judgment of the students. While teacher evaluations are specific to higher education, tools like these offer a form resistance for students, which can alter the ways in which they are

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