Schooling in the name of God: Teachers' perspectives

This book explores the dynamics of power within the institution of a fundamentalist Christian school (Grade 1 to Year 12) and how this impacted on teachers as professionals. Dynamics of power used Foucault’s concept of governmentality that incorporated many facets of power including: disciplinary power, bio-power, technologies of the self and pastoral power. To enhance the contextual understanding a historical analysis was also conducted using Foucault’s techniques of archaeology and genealogy. Findings suggested that teachers were indeed subject to complex mechanisms of disciplinary power and pastoral power that aimed to create a certain type of teacher. Attempts were not only made to normalise or modify teacher actions but also create the desired attitudes and dispositions. Overall, governmentality at Green Hills was formed by two key rationalities – spiritual and economic. These two rationalities were found to be very much interdependent. Finally, the implications of these findings on teacher professionalism are discussed with emphasis on aspects such as voice and relational trust.