The Authority Structure of the School: System of Social Exchange

Abstract

In this paper the bureaucratic authority structure of the school is viewed as consisting of an asymmetric system of role relationships with teachers' obligations and institutional expectations considered as an exchange system. It is suggested that the decision concerning how much authority to invest in teachers depends upon expectations of a return of the investment and an assessment of the risk involved. There appears to be a withdrawal of authority invested in teachers due to the perceived risk involved resulting in an abandonment of their professional orienta tion and a tendency to adopt a more rewarding bureaucratic orienta tion toward the schools. Since school administrators invest little author ity in their instructional staff, teachers in turn have little authority to invest in students. Consequently, the school fails to draw upon the pow erful societal norms of the adolescent subculture to reinforce achieve ment of the school's goals.