The panopticon is a design of institutional building with an inbuilt system of control, originated by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century.

In this paper, we work with the concept of panopticism to explore our lived experiences at both the classroom and district levels. In particular, we consider the ways in which panopticism functions through “hierarchical networks” (p. 220) of students, teachers, principals, and district officials.

In this paper, disciplinary power with its influential tool, panoptic surveillance on students, is examined in a secondary school in İstanbul to reveal how it is exercised by school staff and reacted by students.

Schools are often understood by social researchers as panoptic spaces, where power is exercised through constant surveillance and monitoring. In this paper, I use Foucault’s notorious account of the Panopticon as a point of departure for a detailed empirical investigation of the specificities of surveillance in schools.

May 5, 2021 · The school as a ‘panopticon’ is a well-established concept which helpfully enables a consideration of aspects of high-stakes accountability. The present paper explores the question of how contemporary teachers perceive themselves to be subject to scrutiny and the consequences of this surveillance.

Panopticon’s Influence on School Design. The Panopticon’s architectural influence, while initially focused on prison reform, can be seen in the design of 19th and early 20th-century schools, where discipline, control, and surveillance were key to educational philosophy.

Jul 6, 2010 · Schools are often understood by social researchers as panoptic spaces, where power is exercised through constant surveillance and monitoring. In this paper, I use Foucault’s notorious account of...

Dec 16, 2013 · This new method of teaching implied a new kind of surveillance in which the teacher was expected to remain at his/her desk in order to see the class. The meaning of this optical regime is discussed in relation to Foucault’s concept of the panopticon and Mathiesen’s concept of the synopticon.

This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of the ‘panopticon’ in educational research, problematising its validity and offering a fresh conceptualisation of teacher surveillance. The school as a ‘panopticon’ is a well-established concept which helpfully enables a consideration of aspects of high-stakes accountability.