Power is the exercise of influence, forcing someone to do as you stipulate. Schools exercise the power of legal pressure, mandating that students attend school. To this extent, schools can send police officers, or truancy officers, to your home and force you to attend school. Some schools mandate that problem students, students who show repeated disciplinary problems, attend strict schools that exercise more power-centered techniques than authority techniques. These methods are considered more effective for students who refuse to respond to teacher authority. These techniques include locked gates around the school, increased school security and sequestering students away from students who do not show similar discipline problems.
Authority is the ability to exert influence, convincing students to do as you wish by their own choice. Schools exercise teacher authority, convincing students that they should perform as a teacher requests. This includes convincing students to accept the information from a teacher, complete homework as a teacher instructs and act in a respectful manner in the classroom. Essentially, in an authority-based system, a student chooses to act in a positive way, based on the expectations of the teacher. Authority can also be a coercive technique, suggesting students perform tasks expecting to receive some benefit as a reward.
For students with a discipline problem, power can serve as an incentive by convincing students to act in a specific way so they can return to a learning environment without the focus on power incentive. For instance, students in a special discipline school are expected to comply with the rules of the school with the hope of returning to a traditional school later. Students who do not show a discipline problem often find the power-incentive approach obtrusive and unfair, reacting negatively to it.
Teachers rely on their authority in classrooms to reinforce their lessons and encourage students to act properly while in class. Used effectively, this creates an environment of trust and respect from students to their teachers. Students with discipline problems often have trouble respecting the teacher's authority, reacting with disrespect toward the teacher and class.