Abstract:

Many argue that the interaction between teachers and students through social media challenges educational authority. To shed more light on this question, the paper studies students' perceptions of teacher authority among members of class WhatsApp groups shared by students and educators. The qualitative analysis draws on 35 in-depth interviews with high-schoolers studying in a religious educational framework, characterized by a conservative view of teacher authority.

The findings demonstrate that the use of WhatsApp as a central channel of student-teacher interaction indeed undermines teacher authority, for two main categories of reasons:
a) The character of the platform: the lack of physical authority, disregard for written discourse, the ease of insubordination, demonstration of pedagogic superiority, and online group pressure- all challenge teacher authority
b) The development of six common response patterns which allow students to defy teacher authority on WhatsApp: ignoring the messages, leaving the group, transferring to another mode (e.g., voicemail), defamation of the teacher on a parallel group, defiant discussion devoid of body language, and ambiguous cynical responses. Such reactions are unique to social media groups in platforms such as WhatsApp, and are virtually non-replicable in the physical classroom.

Overall, the study demonstrates that social media platforms such as WhatsApp tend to "flatten out" educational hierarchies and undermine traditional forms of authority. It highlights the need for educators to become familiar and gain proficiency with online social-media forms of student-teacher interaction.

Keywords:

Social media, Educational authority, Teacher-student relationships, Teacher-student online interaction, WhatsApp groups.