Rethinking Classroom Power and Knowledge: A Foucauldian Analysis

Abstract

The study examines how power is exercised and perceived in educational contexts, especially in classroom settings, in the light of Michel Foucault’s theory of power. Transcending the traditional hierarchical view of classroom power, the research explores how authority and control circulate in the pedagogic environment. The study focuses more on understanding the power dynamics between teacher-student interactions. Employing a random sampling technique, the data is collected from 40 participants from different schools, colleges and universities of Dera Ghazi Khan. The data is collected with a quantitative research method using a pre-structured questionnaire consisting of 20 items. The collected data is analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 20; frequency-based descriptive analysis is conducted to understand how participants view the concepts of power, authority and control in a classroom environment. The sample is taken from 40 participants, and the reliability coefficient of Cronbach’s alpha is 0.867. The purpose of the study is to analyse whether Foucauldian notions of power are consistent with the classroom realities. The study contributes to the scholarly discourses by providing practical evidence of how power is perceived in educational environments. The findings of the study reveal that various power structures suggested by Michel Foucault can be seen in educational settings, especially his bottom-up approach to power and his idea of power as a circulating force, and can be found everywhere.