Challenging Hierarchy and Its Reproduction: An Anarchist Critique of Authority in U.S. Schools

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Challenging Liberalism (Table 3)

Abstract

Political philosophies often center education as a means for developing desired values in future citizens, with some acknowledging explicitly the authority of the state to educate in this way. In practice, however, limited understanding and control over cultural reproduction and immediate social-political interests can cause education programs to drift from their ideal aims. Influenced by liberalism, U.S. education aims for equality, autonomy, and democratic citizenship. Yet, mismatches persist between these aims and administrative approaches. This paper employs Judith Suissa’s analysis of the anarchist position in education to critique the mismatch between liberal aims of education and the hierarchical distribution of educational authority, as well as Ann Ishimaru’s concept of Equitable Collaboration to illustrate how these hierarchies can be flattened in practice.

Author

• Thomas J Capretta, The Ohio State University