Teacher Excessive Pedagogical Authority in Moroccan Primary Classroom

Abstract

This article presents an ethnographic study conducted in five Moroccan primary schools in Marrakech and region. This study uses cultural models theory as a tool of inquiry to investigate primary school teachers’ conceptualizations of their role in the space of classroom and how they exercise their pedagogical authority. The intention is to develop awareness of the sociocultural embeddedness of teachers’ beliefs and assumptions with regard to classroom practice. Classroom observations and interviews indicate that the exercise of authority is a routine feature of most teacher–student interactions. Classroom control and discipline seem to constitute an integral part of the pedagogical conceptualizations of most interviewed teachers. There is insistence on establishing teacher authoritative presence in class as a guaranty of exacting obedience and compliance from students. The teachers identify their functions mainly in terms of classroom control and knowledge transmission. Teacher-student relationship is governed and regulated by a well-defined system of hierarchical values and customs. The teachers’ views seem to run counter official pronouncements on institutionalizing learner-centered approaches. This might explain the fact that after years of ‘implementation’, learner-centered approaches has done poorly in terms of being institutionalized and do not appear to have achieved their desiderata.