Should teachers in elementary schools be authoritative?
They need to be very authoritative. Some children lack structure at home and can be very disruptive in class, so if the teacher shows she is the authority in her/his classroom then the will learn what is acceptable and what is not. My daughter’s 4th grade had a sub the first 4 month as her regular teacher was out on maternity leave. When I went in for a class party there were a few boys that were “off the hook” so to speak and she couldn’t control them…she took the laisez faire attitude with the class…being their friend more than a teacher/authority person… Well after the teacher came back she put her foot down and those boys behaved (I had another class party and saw it). It doesn’t work being laisez faire because the children will take advantage of it and become unruly and disrupt class constantly.
