Leave Me Alone:
Power, Control, Resistance in a Primary School
by Joanna Stephanie Gore
reviewed by Steve Booth
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This is an anthropological / Sociological study of power relations in 'Dockbridge' Primary School. The book approaches the question of power from a Foucaultian perspective, but it is Jean Piaget (1896-1980) who saw social change as a net, of power slowly changing its shape over time, of rules and norms reforming.
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In this case change comes from the dialectic or at least interaction between the power of the teacher and the resistance of the children. Power and resistance must be seen as two sides of the same coin. Teachers' strategies of containment and manipulation via peer pressure are met with evasion, prevarication and defiance. As well as Piaget, also offering some hope are the 1985 and 1990 studies by James C Scott, on peasant resistance. Useful here is the Coral Reef analogy. [p 60] which sees the vast aggregation of petty acts; vandalism, feigned ignorance, obstruction etc building up into a larger conglomeration, a reef, of resistance.
The oppression of children by society is intolerable. In an ironic way the author would identify with a comment by social reformer Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845), who once wrote "when you open a school you close a prison". Here, as with Foucault, Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon is never far away. A parallel is drawn, not just with prisons, but also mental health institutions. Following the US, Ritalin, a drug, is increasingly used to control children. School activity is rationalised in terms of protection and control. Adults would not tolerate being clamped down on in this way, but children and the mentally ill are not allowed to protest.
This readable and lively book does not presuppose any professional educational background. If there is to be a caveat, it would be against its Foucaultian meta-analytic starting point. For myself, I would have liked to have seen a more robust questioning of the initial premis. Power is not the only problem besetting schools, nor is power the over-arching explanatory principle which provides the key to unlocking it all. There are real problems with the socialisation of children entering schools. Some are unable to talk, some have no concept of self / others, or do not know their own names. Children physically attack teachers. There are problems with government funding priorities, and socio-political difficulties over the professional status and recognition of teachers. Relationships and responsibilities between schools and parents are also problematic. These do not all resolve down to the question of power between teachers and children, though it is true to say that power is a major component in much of this.
The book is strong and thought provoking on the broader economic context: of schools inculcating class structures and values, of indoctrinating children into accepting their roles within the capitalist system. It is not just about teachers or classroom assistants, for example, in a type of prefect system, 'Rangers' are pupils given powers to supervise younger children. Divide and Rule. These trusties then inform on the rest, enabling the staff to fine tune their control algorithms. [p 49].
All in, this is a useful study, and we can learn a lot about the specifics of power and control within this particular social context. It leads us towards broader questions. What is the connection between schooling and the structure of society? Education and economics? How do we promote education and eliminate indoctrination? Is it possible to address the politics of education? Children are the future, through them can we be more optimistic about the treatment of animals or about ecological issues? What sort of things ought to be taught, and how should we go about it?
– Email: Stephen Booth
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