The teacher as a catalyst of power

Abstract

This article is the result of a personal reflection about the roles that the teacher has played in the western communities throughout history and her social responsibility, especially in the development of the privileged classes and consequently the generation of power through knowledge. Social organizations characterized by their cultural relationships have been by power-structures where the generation and transmission of knowledge are always related with the interests of the most important group, or its productive or ideological needs. A panoramic view of western society’s history will let us find some basic coincidences between power, the mission of teachers, and their influence on social groups. This study was generated by the History of Pedagogy and Epistemology of Science research group, in the Teaching Mastery program at La Salle University, Bogota, Colombia