Surveillance and disciplinary control in school: reflections from Foucault

Abstract

This article investigates the role of surveillance in the school environment based on Michel Foucault's concepts, with an emphasis on panopticism and disciplinary power. It is argued that the school, as a social institution, operates as a control device that normalizes behaviors and regulates subjectivities, reproducing disciplinary mechanisms similar to those of other institutional spaces. With the advancement of digital technologies, school surveillance has intensified through electronic monitoring, data collection, and the use of evaluation algorithms, expanding control over students and teachers. The results indicate that such practices, although justified by the need for organization and security, tend to restrict student autonomy, inhibit critical thinking, and reinforce conformity to institutional norms.