Who holds [educational] authority? Framing the authoritarian turn in the conservative “gag orders” in the United States

Abstract

ABSTRACT Amid the democratic backsliding of the United States and other nations, this paper problematises how authoritarian policy trends complicate who holds educational authority over teacher pedagogy, the contested public education arena, and schools as knowledge production sites within a democratic society. This paper situates the entrenched war on the educated in the United States within a broader political context that has unearthed nationwide educational policies premised on anti-democratic tenets of authoritarian populism. Drawing upon language from enacted educational ‘gag orders’ in multiple states, this paper highlights how conservative policy language positions teachers as passive policy subjects and illustrates the aims of these educational orders to curtail academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and redefine what is true and worth knowing within the contested public education domain. Finally, this paper calls to attention the risks posed to democratic institutions and stakeholders in the wake of authoritarian turns occurring both nationally and globally.