Teacher as an Authority? Supporting the Student's Sense of Belonging to the School Community as a Condition for Their Development and the Teacher's Success in Educating

Abstract

Th e article aims to show the importance of the teacher’s authority in the modern school. Th e authors present a diff erent view from the one well established in the literature looking at the problem of the formation of teachers’ authority. In addition to the defi nitions relating to the professional competence and cognitive abilities, a signifi cant aspect of the analysis was focused on the teacher’s ability to form and shape the student’s sense of belonging to school. Th e paper also includes the research fi ndings univocally indicating that the teacher is a highly regarded authority if they can build and maintain positive relationships in the classroom between them and students as well as between the students themselves, especially the ones manifesting diffi culties in the current social functioning.