Old expectations, new challenges

the crisis of teaching authority in the theatrical training field

Abstract

The article reflects on the impacts of the crisis of authority in the theatrical training field, using Hannah Arendt's theorizations on the phenomenon of authority and her studies on modernity. After more than fifty years since the philosopher’s considerations on the crisis of authority in the educational field, contemporary events, such as the expansion of access to information through digital channels and the appreciation of the diversity of perspectives promoted by identity agendas, add new and important layers of complexity to this debate. The theatrical training field, in turn, is not immune to the effects of this wider political crisis, since it permeates all spheres of human life. Although this article does not claim to offer immediate answers or solutions to the multiple challenges that affect the daily life of teachers, it does contextualize some of the crossroads to which the pedagogical field is subjected, especially with regard to higher education. Faced with the situation that has arisen, the text resorts to dialogue with the philosophy of education to understand the theatrical pedagogical experience, arguing in favor of adopting a critical stance in relation to beliefs and assumptions that are sometimes considered untouchable in theater pedagogy, and the importance of re-evaluating the maintenance of recurring expectations imposed on theatrical pedagogical practice.