SOCIETY. INTEGRATION. EDUCATION Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference. Volume II, May 24 th -25 th , 2019. 171-180 © Rēzeknes Tehnoloģiju akadēmija, 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.17770/sie2019vol2.3876 TEACHER AUTHORITY IN SCHOOL Kristine Jozauska University of Latvia, Latvia Abstract. The purpose of education is to initiate the young into the different ways in which, over the centuries, men have organized their experience and understanding of the world. This initiation depends upon the ability of teacher to explain and inspire, and on the willingness of the young to engage in this enterprise with a proper humility. The discussion on the role of authority in knowledge development and the subject of lack of teacher's authority is in great tension. The role of the teacher has changed, authority, a fundamental part of the teaching– learning process, is a problematic and questioned by society, the media, parents and students. Due to the fact that the teacher is in the role of the manager of the class, they require power in another form, the authority to influence student behavior. This could be termed teacher authority. Power and authority are central features of teachers' work. Many studies of teachers emphasize the impact that teachers have on students. Legitimate teacher authority is fundamental to effective teaching, but is often a thorny issue that teachers need to grapple with when teaching in modern teaching contexts. The main goal of the article is to analyze the teacher's authority and the pedagogical act in the situation of social change. Keywords: social change, role of education, power, teacher authority. Introduction The world we leave to our children depends in large measure on the children we leave to our world. The world’s hopes for the future rest with today’s young people and their readiness to take up the challenges of the coming century. On the threshold of the twenty-first century, the education of the young has never been more in need of our commitment and resources. Our teachers have never been more crucial to our collective future. The young generation is entering a world, which is changing in all spheres: scientific and technological, political, economic, social and cultural. The outlines of the ‘knowledge-based’ society of the future are forming. The status of education is changing: once seen as a factor of unity and integration within societies, capable of overcoming social and economic differences and distinctions, it is increasingly becoming a source of such differences and distinctions between societies in a global economy which rewards those who possess more advanced skills and limits the opportunities of those who do not. Perceptions of the scope of education also are changing as societies come to brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Journals of Rezekne Academy of Technologies